Angela M is taking a break.'s Reviews > The Giver of Stars

This is a wonderful tribute to how books can change people’s lives and to the Kentucky Pack Horse Librarians, so of course I loved this book. I first heard of the Pack Horse Librarians when I read The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. It’s a fascinating piece of history. This initiative was started by Eleanor Roosevelt as part of the Works Progress Administration set up in the mid 1930’s. At first I thought that this would be just a good story about a group of gutsy, dedicated women who brought books to people who would not otherwise have access in the hills of Kentucky. But as the story progressed, I found this book to be so much more.

Margery O’Hare, strong, feisty and independent heads up the program. Alice Van Cleve is a newlywed from England, who has come to Kentucky with her American husband, son of a heartless, cunning mine owner whose interest in making money is more important than the safety of the miners and the citizens of the town. She soon finds that her marriage is not what she hoped for. Izzy, the polio stricken daughter of an established, well to do family is suffocating in her mother’s smothering. Beth, the brash local farmer’s daughter and Sophia, the astute black librarian round out this group and are later joined by Kathleen, one of the women whose family benefited from the books these women brought to her home. As these women take to the road, we see the people of this place and time and their hardships - a father with black lung disease, his wife having to do so much of the hard work, a widowed father raising two little girls, the danger of the mines, the prejudice, the racist sentiments, the poverty, the sexist attitudes towards women. Moyes realistically portrays the things that might have happened in this small mining community in Kentucky in the 1930’s.

I loved how the friendships develop among these women who come to know each other, care about and support each other. They ride through treacherous conditions and I loved seeing how much the people came to look forward to their visits especially the children and how the books and magazines made a difference in their lives . Children learn to read. The sick find respite from their pain as the librarians read to them. I was moved by the impact that the books had, but also the impact that these women make, especially Margery on trying to right some of the wrongs by Van Cleve whose greed causes further suffering for these people.

I found the writing lovely in places, especially the descriptions of the mountains, the landscape. Pertinent quotes from some classic books at the beginning of some chapters was a nice addition - Little Women, The Red Pony and others that I wasn’t familiar with like a little blue book you’ll have to read about for yourself :). Louisa May Alcott could not have imagined the powerful role her book plays in this story. There’s a lot packed into the novel - love stories, friendships, a murder, a courtroom drama, fabulous character development, and as I said at the outset, a wonderful tribute to books and these courageous women and a fantastic piece of historical fiction. I’m a retired librarian so I can’t rate this any less than five stars. :)

I read this with Diane & Esil and as always a wonderful discussion.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Pamela Dorman/Penguin through Edelweiss.