The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
(Format for this read: Print-hardback)
Our latest pick for Book club….
And I absolutely ❤️d it!
So so many things I adore in a book…I’ll get into them all in a sec.
Here is the summary:
“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.”
List of the things this book has that I totes love:
-Historical fiction.
-BA women.
-Authentic friendship.
-Standing up for what is right.
-Self actualization.
-Resisting patriarchal gender roles
-And oh yeah….
BOOKS AND LIBRARIES!!!
So so much happens in this book…marriages, pregnancies, catastrophes, moral dilemmas, small town politics, huge court case…and DAAANNNGG I was so drawn into every bit.
I am sure y’all have figured out that it does not take much to make me cry…so OF COURSE I did plenty of that thru the pages 🤣
I also laughed…
and then got super pissed off…
and then shouted with joy (Yes I literally mean SHOUT…I jumped off my couch and scared the 💩 out of my cat Luigi 🐱)…
and then got more pissed off…
and then back to crying.
(Please tell me I’m not the only person who gets so invested in book characters that you actually FEEL their feelings like they are LEGIT your friends.)
Also this book is based on REAL LIFE amazing women librarians who were so dang tremendous I had to look them up and read all about them.
These women provided access to books and helped to improve literacy and spread knowledge to those who had no way of getting access themselves.
Awesome is not even an adequate adjective here.
Throughly enjoyed this book (and I hear it’s going to be a MOVIE too yall…..YAAASSSSSS!!!)