The Giver of Stars
Depression-era America as You’ve Never Experienced
There are some books that climb right inside your heart, sit themselves down in your recliner, and make themselves at home—as a guest you never will ask to leave because of the way they make you feel. This is one of those books.
Giver of Stars gives you all the feels, from the thrill of romance to the rage of a beast. And let’s just talk about the writing for a moment, shall we? Beautifully simple meshed with a complexity that makes this writer want to hang up her hat and call it quits. Truly well done.
I find it hard to choose a favorite character because I seriously loved them all, save for the villains, who I hated with an equal fervor. Alice, however, is the perfect choice as the main protagonist.
Moving on to the plot, sweet mercy! It’s a slow delightful build to an edge of the seat oh-my-goodness-what’s-going-to-happen crescendo. I loved it! And I rarely gush this much so y’all know I’m not messin’ with you.
The history was rich. I had no idea there was a packhorse library branch of the WPA. The abject property of Eastern Kentucky was handled, I felt, with dignity.
Overall, a fantastic read, one I’ll be recommending to whoever wants to listen to me fangirl about it...and you better believe I’ll be checking into more Jojo Moyes.
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.
