The Giver of the Stars Book Review
“…somethings are a gift, even if you don’t get to keep them.”
- Jojo Moyes, The Giver of the Stars*
By 1935, more than 30% of the population of Kentucky was illiterate. This was thought to be, in no small part, due to the lack of public libraries in the state. The challenging terrain and remote locations made it difficult for families ensconced in the Kentucky hills to reach central branches. Thus, the Pack Horse Library Project was born.
In Jojo Moyes’ story of a the book women of Baileyville, we follow Alice, the unhappily married Brit, Margery, the strong-willed and happily unmarried native, and their companions through the hills of Kentucky as they learn not only to navigate the difficult terrain but the even more challenging prejudices that run deep within the landscape of this rural community.
As a self-proclaimed library lover, I was ashamed to admit that I knew nothing of the Pack Horse librarians until I read The Library Book by Susan Orlean last year. I could not wait to delve into a story of celebrating the women who traveled miles upon miles a day to bring their love of language and knowledge to the community they served.
Moyes crafts an intricate tale of both the rewards and the risks of being a Kentucky Book Woman. Deep in the Appalachia, the Bailyville book women face resentment, mistrust, and abuse from the families they visit.
When it is discovered that the librarians have been discretely distributing materials of a rather sensitive nature to the young, married women of Baileyville, religious outcry threatens to bring their entire operation to a halt. The ungodly nature of topics broached in the book, Married Love, send the entire county into a frenzy.
So moved with outrage and spurred on by drink, a local hillsman attacks Margery on her route. When his body is found months later, the entire Pack Horse system is on trial.
Fear of knowledge, religious guilt, and the genuine warmth of female friendship marry perfectly in this tale of love, loss, and courage.
I, wholeheartedly, recommend The Giver of the Stars to anyone who has ever loved a book or a library. Eighty-five years after the creation of the Kentucky Pack Horse Library project, the struggles faced by the fictional women of Baileyville still exist. The fight to bring books to the people who need them the most is ongoing and unrelenting.
Funding, distrust, and religious guilt play heavily in the world-wide access to ideas and knowledge. Read this book and take a moment to be grateful for all the forces that combined to make your experience possible. And remember, that not everyone is so lucky to read freely and without impediment.
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