Welcome to this week’s post. So, I have just finished a book that was really not the kind that I usually choose, but then it had…

Librarians!

…on horseback!

One of my friends posted about this book on Facebook and I was so intrigued that I just had to read it. Here it is…

The book was The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes. Friends recommended this highly and the blurb was also interesting…

“Set in Depression-era America, a breathtaking story of five extraordinary women and their remarkable journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond.

When Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve, she escapes her stifling life in England, but small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic. So when a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books on horseback as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, Alice signs on enthusiastically. What happens to these women—and to the men they love—becomes an unforgettable drama of loyalty, justice, humanity, and passion.

Based on a true story rooted in America’s past, The Giver of Stars is unparalleled in its scope and epic in its storytelling. Funny, heartbreaking, enthralling, it is destined to become a modern classic—a richly rewarding novel of women’s friendship, of true love, and of what happens when we reach beyond our grasp for the great beyond.”

This is the review that I posted on Goodreads…

The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As a retired librarian I had to read this book! I really love the idea of getting the right book into the right hands. I tried to do this all of my career and I feel so privileged that I was able to work as a librarian.

In the book, however, these intrepid women were not in a (usually) warm, comfortable and well stocked library building, but battling through the countryside with rain, snow, floods and mud on horseback! They also had to contend with hostility, rejection and even violence from their potential “customers” and from some local townspeople. The bravery of women like this, working to bring a wonderful service to people scattered around in tiny settlements is awe inspiring.

The main characters were really interesting and there were well written interwoven storylines with definite romantic elements. The customs and traditions of the time and the ways that the plucky women dealt with them were gripping in parts. Plenty of heroines and heroes to cheer and villains to boo!

The book is based on real events in the USA in the 1930s and 1940s and I would love to know how widespread the service was and whether it continued in some areas.

View all my reviews

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I have now checked our local library’s ebook service and have reserved more of Jojo Moyes’ books. Hope there are as good as this one!

Happy Reading to you all!

Love and best wishes,

Anne

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