"Giver of Stars" by Jojo Moyes

   I have just finished reading "The Giver of Stars" by Jojo Moyes.  
   It begins with Alice Van Cleve, who had married Bennett Van Cleve but also got a father-in-law in the bargain who had no sense of boundaries.  He spent their honeymoon with them on a ship from England to Kentucky and then controlled their lives, as they moved into his luxurious house in Kentucky.  He was a widower, running the mines as well as the lives of his son and daughter-in-law.  Alice was extremely unhappy (there was no love in this marriage), but found a sense of purpose in becoming a bookwoman, delivering books to remote homes in the surrounding hills.
   Two of the most important pillars of this book did not hold up for me: first, why did Bennett Van Cleve marry Alice while he was in England, when he refused to have any intimate contact with her after they were married?  He was not being pressured, obviously she was not pregnant, and he had a girlfriend back home in Kentucky, whom he eventually married.  Why did he marry Alice when he seemed to have no affection for her?
  The second pillar that doesn't hold up for me, involves another of the bookwomen- Marjorie.  She is a very unconventional woman who balks at the role of women in Kentucky during this time period, and comes from a family with a reputation of drinking and feuding. But when a mountain man is found dead with a copy of "Little Women" near him,  Marjorie is charged with his murder.  Simply because her relatives had been feuding with the murdered man's family and the dead man was found (a few months after his death) along the path that Marjorie took to deliver books. Did they really think a woman could kill a man with a book?

 "The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek" had deeper issues, based on fact.  Cussy Mary is the main character and her skin is blue-tinged, leaving her open to discrimination and abuse.  This is actually an inherited disorder that was very rare in the hills of Kentucky.
   Cussy Mary applied for the job of 'bookwoman' by mail so that her skin-colour would not be a factor.  She was very serious about the job- hoping to bring comfort and literacy to the isolated people living in the hills of Kentucky.  She rode a mule on her trips, often stopping to read to the sick or illiterate.
  The book also describes the custom of 'courting candles'.
   I enjoyed the writing and structure of "The Book woman of Troublesome Creek" more, but, I would be willing to read any number of books about this fascinating project, since so much of my life involves reading, discussing, and distributing books.