These heroic women refuse to be cowed by men or by convention. What happens to them-and to the men they love-becomes an unforgettable drama of loyalty, justice, humanity, and passion.
They will be joined by three other singular women who become known as the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky.
The leader, and soon Alice's greatest ally, is Margery, a smart-talking, self-sufficient woman who's never asked a man's permission for anything. So when a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt's new traveling library, Alice signs on enthusiastically. But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overbearing father-in-law. "A great narrative about personal strength and really captures how books bring communities together." -Reese Witherspoonįrom the author of the forthcoming Someone Else's Shoes, a breathtaking story of five extraordinary women and their remarkable journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond in Depression-era AmericaĪlice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve, hoping to escape her stifling life in England. (Oct.Description #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK Agent: Sheila Crowley, Curtis Brown (U.K.). There’s plenty of drama, but the reader’s lasting impression is one of love. Moyes ( Still Me) stereotypes her antagonists a bit, but provides tremendous warmth among the librarians and centers their perspectives thoroughly. But powerful men in Baileyville oppose the library, as it employs a black woman, influences women and children’s minds with fiction, encourages previously illiterate families to defend their rights against encroaching mining companies, and teaches women about intimacy through a secret copy of Married Love.
She’s sustained by her friendships with the other women, especially the brash, self-sufficient Margery O’Hare, and the appreciation of the isolated families she serves. She finds respite in riding with the women of the new WPA-sponsored horseback library. Alice Wright escapes her stifling English family by marrying an American, but this choice leads to further misery in the rural Kentucky household of her unaffectionate husband and his domineering father, the owner of the local coal mine. An adventure story grounded in female competence and mutual support, and an obvious affection for the popular literature of the early 20th century, give this Depression-era novel plenty of appeal.
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