Barbara’s Pick
February 2020
The Giver of Stars
Jojo Moyes
Published October 2019
British author Jojo Moyes is probably best known in the United States for the weeper Me Before You, so it might seem odd that her latest book is centered in Depression-era Kentucky. But she’s told a terrific story about a WPA program that Eleanor Roosevelt championed. Women known as the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky traveled through rough terrain on horseback to deliver reading materials to the poorest, most remote houses in the state.
Moyes’s main character, Alice, is a British woman swept off her feet by visiting Kentuckian Bennett. They quickly marry and return to Kentucky, but in short order she realizes she’s traded an untenable life in Britain for another in the United States. When the opportunity not only to ride but to deliver books is presented to her, she leaps at the chance—and meets her soul sisters in the library.
Moyes, as usual, writes memorable characters and dramatic plot twists. If you are a lover of books, you won’t regret adding this book to your list!