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A review by lilbanne
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
4.0
The Giver of Stars was a cute, quick read. The book is based on the 1930s Horseback Librarian program in Kentucky, started by Eleanor Roosevelt, a program to bring books to enrich the lives of those who did not ordinarily have access to reading material, e.g., in the remote Appalachian countryside. I love a good historical fiction novel about reading. Count me in!
Alice Wright is a newlywed English woman who moved to Kentucky after marrying her husband, Bennet Van Celeve, a wealthy son of a mining baron whom she met on his tour of Europe. We quickly learn that Alice is bored and discontent living with her husband and father-in-law, so she signs up to be a librarian for the Horseback Program led by Margery O'Hare, a bootlegger's daughter. Margery is strong and independent but has a bad reputation in town because of her outspoken behaviour! Alice befriends Margery, Beth, Izzy and Sonia, other fellow librarians and quickly falls in love with the Appalachian hills. Alice realizes there might be more to her life than pretty dresses and making dinner for her husband.
The story delves deep into racial tension as well as misogyny. There is a clash between the old and the new guard as those previously repressed demand more. The Giver of Stars is a beautifully written story that makes you fall in love with the countryside of Kentucky.
Activating material: pregnancy, family abuse, domestic abuse, racism, misogyny
Alice Wright is a newlywed English woman who moved to Kentucky after marrying her husband, Bennet Van Celeve, a wealthy son of a mining baron whom she met on his tour of Europe. We quickly learn that Alice is bored and discontent living with her husband and father-in-law, so she signs up to be a librarian for the Horseback Program led by Margery O'Hare, a bootlegger's daughter. Margery is strong and independent but has a bad reputation in town because of her outspoken behaviour! Alice befriends Margery, Beth, Izzy and Sonia, other fellow librarians and quickly falls in love with the Appalachian hills. Alice realizes there might be more to her life than pretty dresses and making dinner for her husband.
The story delves deep into racial tension as well as misogyny. There is a clash between the old and the new guard as those previously repressed demand more. The Giver of Stars is a beautifully written story that makes you fall in love with the countryside of Kentucky.
Activating material: pregnancy, family abuse, domestic abuse, racism, misogyny