The book woman's daughter: a novel

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English

Description

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

"A powerful portrait of the courageous women who fought against ignorance, misogyny, and racial prejudice." —William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author of This Tender Land and Lightning Strike

The new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek!

Bestselling historical fiction author Kim Michele Richardson is back with the perfect book club read following Honey Lovett, the daughter of the beloved Troublesome book woman, who must fight for her own independence with the help of the women who guide her and the books that set her free.

In the ruggedness of the beautiful Kentucky mountains, Honey Lovett has always known that the old ways can make a hard life harder. As the daughter of the famed blue-skinned, Troublesome Creek packhorse librarian, Honey and her family have been hiding from the law all her life. But when her mother and father are imprisoned, Honey realizes she must fight to stay free, or risk being sent away for good.

Picking up her mother's old packhorse library route, Honey begins to deliver books to the remote hollers of Appalachia. Honey is looking to prove that she doesn't need anyone telling her how to survive. But the route can be treacherous, and some folks aren't as keen to let a woman pave her own way.

If Honey wants to bring the freedom books provide to the families who need it most, she's going to have to fight for her place, and along the way, learn that the extraordinary women who run the hills and hollers can make all the difference in the world.

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ISBN
9781728242590
9781728252995
9781665066587
9781432898564
9781728242606

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Also in this Series

  • The book woman of Troublesome Creek (Book woman of Trouble Creek Volume 1) Cover
  • The book woman's daughter: a novel (Book woman of Trouble Creek Volume 2) Cover

Similar Series From Novelist

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for series you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
These series have the genre "historical fiction"; and the subjects "rural life" and "rural families."
These series have the subject "rural life"; and characters that are "likeable characters."
These series have the appeal factors atmospheric, leisurely paced, and strong sense of place, and they have the subjects "rural life," "appalachians (people)," and "rural poor people."
These series have the appeal factors atmospheric, evocative, and leisurely paced, and they have the subjects "rural life," "rural families," and "farm life."
These series have the appeal factors atmospheric and evocative, and they have the genre "historical fiction"; and the subject "rural life."
These series have the genres "historical fiction" and "christian historical fiction"; and the subject "dust bowl era, 1931-1939."
These series have the subjects "rural life" and "rural families."
These series have the genre "historical fiction"; and the subject "rural life."
These series have the subjects "rural life," "rural poor people," and "rural families."

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NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
These books have the appeal factors atmospheric and leisurely paced, and they have the genres "historical fiction" and "christian historical fiction."
These books have the appeal factors atmospheric and strong sense of place, and they have the genre "historical fiction"; and characters that are "complex characters."
These books have the appeal factors atmospheric, and they have the genre "historical fiction"; the subjects "rural life," "prisoners," and "rural families"; and characters that are "complex characters."
These books have the appeal factors bittersweet, and they have the genre "book club best bets"; the subjects "rural life," "appalachians (people)," and "rural families"; and characters that are "complex characters."
Readers interested in the blue people of Kentucky may appreciate both of these moving historical novels which focus on young women who are among the rare group of people who shared this trait. -- Halle Carlson
Steadfast, resilient young women are determined to persevere despite their hardscrabble existences in these historical novels set in Appalachia (Book Woman's Daughter) and the Midwest (All the Forgivenesses). -- Halle Carlson
These books have the appeal factors atmospheric, and they have the genres "historical fiction" and "book club best bets"; and the subject "rural life."
These books have the appeal factors atmospheric and intricately plotted, and they have the genres "historical fiction" and "book club best bets"; the subjects "rural life" and "mountain life"; and characters that are "likeable characters" and "well-developed characters."
These books have the appeal factors strong sense of place, and they have the genre "historical fiction"; and the subjects "rural life," "prejudice," and "rural poor people."
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Although Giver of Stars takes place during the Great Depression and Book Woman's Daughter is set in the 1950s, both atmospheric historical fiction novels feature traveling librarians who change lives despite significant hardships in rural Kentucky. -- CJ Connor

Similar Authors From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
These authors' works have the genres "historical fiction" and "christian historical fiction"; and the subjects "small town life," "death of mothers," and "small towns."

Published Reviews

Booklist Review

After her parents are jailed for violating Kentucky's miscegenation laws in 1953, Honey, only 16, is on her own. Though only her hands are affected, she shares a rare genetic condition with her mother that renders her skin blue. Honey is not really alone. She makes fast friends with Pearl, the fire lookout, and she takes a job as a packhorse librarian, delivering books to the virtually impenetrable hollers, carrying on her mother's tradition of being a book woman. Richardson's follow-up to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (2019) shows how little has changed in the rural mountains of Kentucky: poverty runs rampant, coal mining is dangerous work, and people need the escape that reading brings them. It is also a man's world, but steel-spined women--Honey and Pearl, a woman coal miner, a young girl with a pet rooster--are fighting for their place. The Book Woman's Daughter combines themes of sisterhood and justice with vivid depictions of the Kentucky landscape, making it a good choice for book groups and readers of historical women's fiction.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
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Publisher's Weekly Review

In this earnest follow-up to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, Richardson focuses on 16-year-old Honey Lovett, the daughter of Cussy Mary Lovett, the woman with blue skin whose work for the Pack Horse Library during the 1930s featured in the first installment. Cussy married Jackson Lovett, a white man, and Honey, who inherited an easily concealable version of Cussy's methemoglobinemia, fends for herself now that her parents have been imprisoned for miscegenation. It's 1953, and sympathetic friends help keep Honey out of the Kentucky House of Reform, which is bent on holding her until she's 21. As an effort to achieve her independence, she takes up the traveling librarian job once held by her mother, even riding the same faithful mule, Junia. She also convinces lawyer Bob Morgan to represent her in a bid for legal emancipation, culminating in a climactic courtroom scene complete with damaging testimony from a racist social worker and a misogynist sheriff. Though the story of Honey's struggle for freedom is a bit formulaic, Richardson excels in her descriptions of the people and places of rural Kentucky. Fans will be delighted to find Cussy's daughter is just as plucky as her mother. Agent: Stacy Teta, Writers House. (May)

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Booklist Reviews

After her parents are jailed for violating Kentucky's miscegenation laws in 1953, Honey, only 16, is on her own. Though only her hands are affected, she shares a rare genetic condition with her mother that renders her skin blue. Honey is not really alone. She makes fast friends with Pearl, the fire lookout, and she takes a job as a packhorse librarian, delivering books to the virtually impenetrable hollers, carrying on her mother's tradition of being a book woman. Richardson's follow-up to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek (2019) shows how little has changed in the rural mountains of Kentucky: poverty runs rampant, coal mining is dangerous work, and people need the escape that reading brings them. It is also a man's world, but steel-spined women—Honey and Pearl, a woman coal miner, a young girl with a pet rooster—are fighting for their place. The Book Woman's Daughter combines themes of sisterhood and justice with vivid depictions of the Kentucky landscape, making it a good choice for book groups and readers of historical women's fiction. Copyright 2022 Booklist Reviews.

Copyright 2022 Booklist Reviews.
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Publishers Weekly Reviews

In this earnest follow-up to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, Richardson focuses on 16-year-old Honey Lovett, the daughter of Cussy Mary Lovett, the woman with blue skin whose work for the Pack Horse Library during the 1930s featured in the first installment. Cussy married Jackson Lovett, a white man, and Honey, who inherited an easily concealable version of Cussy's methemoglobinemia, fends for herself now that her parents have been imprisoned for miscegenation. It's 1953, and sympathetic friends help keep Honey out of the Kentucky House of Reform, which is bent on holding her until she's 21. As an effort to achieve her independence, she takes up the traveling librarian job once held by her mother, even riding the same faithful mule, Junia. She also convinces lawyer Bob Morgan to represent her in a bid for legal emancipation, culminating in a climactic courtroom scene complete with damaging testimony from a racist social worker and a misogynist sheriff. Though the story of Honey's struggle for freedom is a bit formulaic, Richardson excels in her descriptions of the people and places of rural Kentucky. Fans will be delighted to find Cussy's daughter is just as plucky as her mother. Agent: Stacy Teta, Writers House. (May)

Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly.

Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly.
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