Jojo Moyes is one of my favorite authors. This book was completely different than the other books that I have read by her. First of all, it was set in the Depression era America. Alice is a British woman who marries an American to escape her life in Britain, which she finds unbearable thanks to her mother. Alice marries a American from Kentucky, Bennett Van Cleve, whose family owns and runs the local mines. So the biggest mystery of the entire book for me is, what's up with Bennett?? Alice falls in love with Bennett in England, and he seems to be in love with her as well. So they marry and she moves to Kentucky with him and his father, who is a number one jerk. They actually live with Mr. Van Cleve, who is as overbearing as Alice's mother in England. Anyway, they never have sex! Ever. Alice doesn't even know what it means to have sex with a man - and Bennett doesn't seem inclined to show her. Why? Is he gay? Is he impotent? I kept waiting for the answer. Alice tries to talk to him a few different times, but he never explains. She sees him being happy when hanging out with his old classmate, Peggy, but he had every chance to marry her before meeting Alice in England. But he doesn't. He marries Alice - and then doesn't seem to want anything to do with her. It was very odd.
As much as I love books, I wasn't thinking that a book about women delivering books to rural families in Kentucky would be all that interesting. But it was. I loved how this small (and brave) group of women, referred to as the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky, bonded with each other. I love how the rural families, many of which where "rough around the edges", to put it mildly, accepted these women and their books. I love how the children learned to read - and how their parents encouraged them to learn. These were moonshining and mining families. They would as soon as shoot a stranger on their property as invite them into their home. This job (and it WAS a job because these women actually got paid to do this) was not for the weak of heart. It was dangerous job at times, not only because of some of the people they encountered, but the weather too.
Of course with knowledge, comes conflict. Those in power over the town, like Mr. Van Cleve, tried to shut down the library a variety of different ways, saying that the books were causing insurrection (my word, not his, but that's what he meant). He called the books "immoral" and held town meetings at the local church and in front of the courthouse speaking his mind. Meanwhile, Bennett just listened. He rarely defended Alice or anyone else against his father. He came across as a handsome, well-dressed weenie. Alice certainly deserved someone better than him! Things get really bad when the leader of the Librarians, Margery; is arrested for murdering a hillbilly drunkard on her route. The only really decent thing that Bennett does in the entire book is suggest to Alice a way to prove Margery may be innocent.
The book is interesting, heartbreaking, heartwarming and even funny at times. I enjoyed it very much.
Wendy's Rating: ****
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