Publishers Weekly
03/07/2022
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)
From the Publisher
"Steeped in an intimate knowledge of the traditions and lore of the region and written with a loving eye to the natural beauty of the landscape, The Book Woman's Daughter is a brilliant and compelling narrative - 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
"A mesmerizing and beautifully rendered Appalachian tale of strong women, bravery, and resilience, told through the eyes of a new heroine reminiscent of Harper Lee's own Scout Finch." — Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author of One Foot in Eden and Serena
"Kim Michele Richardson's The Book Woman's Daughter sets us deep inside Kentucky's rugged Appalachia in the early 1950s and gives us Honey Mary-Angeline Lovett, a sixteen-year-old as fierce and brave as her mama, Cussy Mary. Their world is cruel with its prejudice, and Richardson is not afraid to peel back its ugliness and take us there. But, like the best writers in not only this generation but the ones past, Richardson gifts us readers with something extraordinary, a way back." — Bren McClain, multi-award-winning author of One Good Mama Bone
"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." — Booklist
"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." — Publishers Weekly
"In Kim Michele Richardson’s beautifully and authentically rendered The Book Woman’s Daughter she once again paints a stunning portrait of the raw, somber beauty of Appalachia, the strong resolve of remarkable women living in a world dominated by men, and the power of books and sisterhood to prevail in the harshest circumstances. A critical and profoundly important read for our time. Badassery womanhood at its best!" — Sara Gruen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Water for Elephants
"Fierce, beautiful and inspirational, Kim Michele Richardson has created a powerful tale about brave extraordinary heroines who are downright haunting and unforgettable." — Abbott Kahler, New York Times bestselling author (as Karen Abbott) of The Ghosts of Eden Park
