Book Review: The Book Woman's Daughter

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.

I had the opportunity to read an early release of the book by its publisher Sourcebooks Landmark in exchange for an honest review. It hits all booksellers on May 3rd of 2022.

The Book Woman's Daughter is a sequel to the 2019 bestseller The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. Author Kim Michele Richardson takes us back to the hills of Kentucky, this time in 1953, to follow the adventures of Honey Lovett. While the first book in this series focused primarily on racism in the south in the late 1930's, this one squarely looks at the roles of women in society in the same region a decade or so later. As with the first novel, Richardson has clearly done her research as shown by the supplemental material included at the end of the novel.

Having just read the first book a few months back in preparation for our library's book club meeting in May, the story of Cussy Mary Carter was still fresh in my mind. So, returning to Troublesome Creek for Honey's story was an easy trip. In reading both so close together, I could see how Richardson continued the setting while showing the evolution of the community and its residents in the fifteen-year span between the two books. While a good bit of time passed for some of the characters, it was evident that many of the attitudes and viewpoints had not changed. As noted, the racism against those of color (even the Blues) was still firmly entrenched as was the sexism against women. But as history has shown us now in 2022, some of those roots of thought run very deep and are difficult to pull away from their hold in the earth of society.

For those who loved the first book, I am certain they will love The Book Woman's Daughter. It is written in the same down-home, comfortable style as the first. The characters are as relatable. And while the new story stands on its own, I think it is better enjoyed if one has read the other title first. For me, personally, this sequel was going to have a hard time reaching the bar set by its predecessor.