If you love a good audiobook, then this is something you should check out. I’ve included my audiobook review of The Giver of Stars at the bottom of this blog post. The book is beautifully narrated by Julia Whelan. It involves a group of women on packhorses to deliver much-needed reading material to people in the hills of Kentucky.
About The Giver of Stars
From the author of Me Before You, set in Depression-era America, a breathtaking story of five extraordinary women and their remarkable journey through the mountains of Kentucky and beyond.
Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England. But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overbearing father-in-law. So when a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, Alice signs on enthusiastically.
The leader, and soon Alice’s greatest ally, is Margery, a smart-talking, self-sufficient woman who’s never asked a man’s permission for anything. They will be joined by three other singular women who become known as the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky.
What happens to them–and to the men they love–becomes an unforgettable drama of loyalty, justice, humanity and passion. These heroic women refuse to be cowed by men or by convention. And though they face all kinds of dangers in a landscape that is at times breathtakingly beautiful, at others brutal, they’re committed to their job: bringing books to people who have never had any, arming them with facts that will change their lives.
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.
My Audiobook Review
The Giver of Stars is a well-told story that takes place in the mountains of Kentucky in the late 1930s. The WPA has instituted pack-horse libraries in order to share books to people living high up in the Kentucky mountains. A group of women from different backgrounds ride into the mountains and distribute books to homes on a weekly basis.
The story features the moonshiner’s daughter who doesn’t care what other people think of her. Then there is a British bride who finds herself in an unloving family. Her father-in-law runs the local mine in a brutal manner. The story also features an accomplished librarian, but because of her color is not allowed to ride out and deliver books. There are so many delightful stories within the overall story and the audiobook was beautifully performed by Julia Whelan. The Giver of Stars will greatly affect your sleep if you put it on before bed. Trust me, I know.
Side Note:
There is a plagiarism controversy over The Giver of Stars and The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. I haven’t read the latter but plan to in the future. I really enjoyed The Giver of Stars and need more information.
Nice Review.