The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

This was my first knowledge of the Blue people of Kentucky and the terrible way they were treated and mistreated. Cussy Mary was a very dedicated traveling book lady bringing books and any type of written word in magazines and news papers. All reading material was very precious to these mountain folks and the traveling librarian was the only way for these out of the way mountain folks to learn to read and better themselves. Cussy not only delivered these precious books and papers but she also read to some patrons and even taught several young people how to read. She was extremely committed to her patrons. This was a wonderful book about a little know corner of our United States of America 🇺🇸.

This novel opens a window into a world in which the written word provides a lifeline of hope and opportunity in the midst of abject poverty, starvation and prejudice. The setting is Eastern Kentucky/Appalachia during the Depression, when food is a precious commodity and a human life is often treated as less valuable than a pack animal. The author presents a number of challenging interrelated topics deftly and with great empathy. Our guide to this world is Cussy Mary, the last of a family line of blue-skinned people, and we experience this very harsh world through her eyes: the generosity of one desperately hungry person toward another, the fierce sense of pride and dignity when one has almost nothing else, and the narrow-mindedness and arbitrary brutality of prejudice. We learn about the unique history of the blue-skinned people and the additional hardships they face. The author also celebrates the extraordinary Pack Horse Library Program, showing us both the danger the brave Book Women undertook, but also the community’s intense desire for the books and everything they represent, including a way of connecting people and offering an escape from reality.
This book works on many levels for me. The author presents many ideas around discrimination, social inequality and poverty in a way that emerges seamlessly from the historical world she is describing, but is also accessible and tangible to a modern audience grappling with these same dilemmas, and she does it with respect for both her audience and her characters. I heartily recommend this novel.

ローズベルト大統領は導入した Kentucky Pack Horse Library Projectは、アパラチア山脈の極貧の人々に本と希望を与えた。主人公のCussy Mary Carterは「肌が青い」ためBluetと呼ばれ、ひどい差別を受けているが、人間としてのやさしさを失うことなく、この制度の下で本を人々に届けるbook womanの仕事を与えられ、賃金を得る。しかし、炭鉱夫の彼女の父は、過酷な職場で珪肺病にかかっているだけでなく、秘密の組合活動が会社に見つかれば殺されてしまうことを恐れ、Cussyの将来を守ろうと無理矢理に結婚させようとする。
　一方、医師としてCussyに興味を持って調査をしたDoc は、彼女の症状はヘモグロビンに異常を起こす非常に稀な遺伝病で、療法もあることを発見し、差別する人々にその事実を告げる。にもかかわらず、黒人と同じcoloredとしてひどい差別が変わらないことに、ほんとうにびっくりした。しかし、原因は異なるがハンセン病患者に対するひどい差別を考えれば、恐怖を根底とする偏見が人間を残酷にすることを改めて理解したと感じる。
　歴史小説と紹介されていたのに、史実に基づいた話であることがピンとこないで、途中でウィキペディアを調べたりした。Cussyが大変不幸になるのではとハラハラしながら読んだ。そこまではいかなかい結末で、これを甘いと考える人もいるかもしれないが、私はほっとした。これは1巻目で、2巻目は同じくBlueでCussyの養女となるHoney Lovetteの話というので、買い込んだ。

The above quote is from 19 year old Cussy Mary Carter when she decides not to take the medication that can temporarily turn her skin from blue to white. Cussy Mary, also known as Bluet, lives in the hills of Kentucky. She is one of the blue skinned people of eastern Kentucky and is treated as “colored” by the townspeople and by the law. This is a real but rare medical condition called methemoglobinemia. It is caused by the lack of an enzyme in the blood that causes a form of hemoglobin, called methemoglobin, to be over-produced in the blood. This causes a lack of oxygenation in the blood, which makes the skin look blue. It is hereditary. The condition can be treated with methylene blue, though the effect is temporary and has horrible side effects.

Despite being a Blue, Cussy gets hired to be one of the Kentucky Pack Horse Librarians. This is a real program that was supported by President Roosevelt to employ women and also to bring literacy to isolated areas. The book takes place mostly in 1936. Cussy lives with her father who works in the mines and appears to have black lung disease. Cussy loves books and loves traveling in the mountains with her mule to deliver them to her patrons. And her patrons love and appreciate her. She will do anything to help them. Her father wants her to get married, but it is difficult to find a man who will have her and risk fathering blue babies. She has a brief marriage that ends terribly, leaving her and her father in debt to the town doctor. He wants to take Cussy to a hospital in Lexington to perform experiments in an effort to diagnose and cure her blueness. The doctor finds the cause and the cure. Cussy is initially seduced into having white skin and therefore acceptance from the townspeople. Then she realizes, with the help of a man who loves her, that she is more than enough as she is.

I loved this book for everything that I learned about the Pack Horse Librarian project, the blue people of Kentucky, and also about how hard life was in the Appalachia’s in the 1930’s. Any novel that is about the power of books and reading is okay with me. The writing was very good and I appreciate the amount of research that the author did. The dialect, setting, and details seemed genuine. This is a 4 1/2 star book for me. I enjoyed the historical aspects the most. The archival photos of the Pack Horse Librarians at the end of the book are awesome. I also enjoyed the chapters that focused on Cussy and her relationship with her various patrons. Reading about the fear of and the prejudice against the blues was very thought provoking. The thing that knocked this down from 5 stars for me was the final three chapters. The story had been moving along at a slow but enjoyable pace. Then things really amped up and there was a lot of drama. That seemed out of place to me and was not consistent with the rest of the story. Other readers may enjoy the ending. Regardless, I think that this is a wonderful book and worth your time.

I had never heard of “blue skinned people”. Googled them and there were photos! An educational novel with a good storyline.