A review by knkoch
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I have mixed feelings on this one. I do think that stories about the impoverished, underserved communities in the Appalachian mountains aren't told enough. The miner's union and government outreach library program plots were interesting and informative. However, there was a high misery quotient here. And the depiction of the discrimination against the white main character (who has bluish skin due to an inherited medical condition) felt overdone, as if wanting to appropriate the experience of anti-black racism. It seems like a pack horse librarian's job was plenty interesting and challenging on its own without that added element. I guess it felt like the author was building on her considerable research into 1930s Kentucky and creating a plot with more wishful thinking and
highly specious romance
than I could buy into. I thought Demon Copperhead, set during the opiod crisis, was a more nuanced depiction of Appalachian communities and the entrenched issues they grapple with. 
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