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Feb 24, 2021123vmp rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
This is one of the best historical novels I have ever read. It is three stories in one novel. Set n the 1930s in a backwoods Kentucky mining community The main story and character is a blue skinned woman who becomes a traveling librarian under a FDR/WPA program aimed at bringing books and literacy to communities lacking both libraries and decent schools. Cussy Mary travels up hills, through dark woods and across streams on an ornery mule to reach folks living in the backwoods, who are as hungry for reading materials as they are for equally scant food. The second plot line is the conflict between exploitative mine owners and the underpaid miners working under dangerous life threatening conditions. The third plot line is the hostility to Cussy Mary because of her blue skin, a genetic variant caused by a missing enzyme. Prejudice and discrimination against non white skinned folks is pervasive, cruel, and extensive, leading to death, serious injuries and ostracism. The author weaves these three plot lines together in a way that helps readers understand a little k ow, time period, program, a community and its people. becomes