The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, a novel by Kim Michele Richardson is an unforgettable story of poverty and bravery in the face of extreme prejudice. The story takes place in Appalachian Kentucky, Depression-era 1936.
Cussy Mary Carter, 19 is blue skinned. Blue skinned people were known for having a genetic trait that led to the blood disorder methemoglobinemia, causing the skin to appear blue. In those days, particularly in the hills of Kentucky, people with this affliction were considered “colored” and suffered the same stigma given to Blacks.
Cussy’s widowed father, a coal miner in ill health, wants to see that his daughter is married so that she will be taken care of, but Cussy resists a chance for “respectability” and instead joins the historical Pack Horse Library Project and becomes a librarian. Her duties as “Book Woman” don’t involve actually working in a library building, but rather riding her mule up treacherous mountains to deliver books and other reading materials to the poor hill communities. The books consist of big city library cast-offs plus home-made scrapbooks that contain recipes and other items of interest. Cussy takes her job seriously and tries to tailor reading material to individual needs of people on her route.
Many people are distrustful of Cussy’s blue skin. Although dedicated to her job, she sometimes faces actual danger among those she serves, but Cussy persists, firmly believing in the power of words. Not all on her route are approving of the Book Woman’s work. Some say, “A sneaky time thief is in them books. There’s more important ways to spend a fellar’s time.”
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is based on the true Pack Horse Librarian Project that existed 1935 to 1943. Book Women were paid $28 a month and had to furnish their own mounts. More than 1,000 women served in Kentucky. Author Kim Michele Richardson’s fictional account of this project is dedicated to those who served with “hope and heartbreak, raw courage and strength,” and to the historical blue-skinned people of Kentucky.