I almost didn’t stick with this one but boy am I glad I did! The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes started so slowly for me that I even did a little Instagram poll on whether or not it was a worthwhile read. By the point I reached the 1/4 way, I was completely hooked on and invested in the likeable cast of women and the unlikely bond they formed in the 1930s small town Kentucky. It was a heartwarming, at times predictable, read that left me smiling and just feeling content.
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.
I’ve moved on to Something in the Water, which is also captivating in a very different way. I am part-time reading The Hatchet, which I picked up after it had been discarded in the fruit bowl by our resident pre-teen.
I’m currently seeking spring break beach reads. What’s on your bedside?
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I’m starting The Bridgerton series. I haven’t seen the Netflix show, but I want something light and easy. I just finished The Four Winds, and that was very sad and heavy.
3 I’ve really enjoyed lately: The Gown, Rules of Civility, The Keeper of Lost Things
Hi Amanda,
Thanks for the recommendations – I’ll add to my list. I am reading The Power Couple, by Alex Berenson currently. And I on a Marie Benedict roll…finished The Only Woman in the Room and Carnegie’s Maid, both in a couple of days and am on the waiting list for 3 others – very good! Also moving up on the list for The Four Winds, by Kristin Hannah…I think I’m 14/65!
Karen
Hatchet is so awesome! We “read” it as a family a few years ago on a road trip (my boys are the same ages as your boys.) This year on another road trip we read Brian’s Winter. Brian’s return is floating around my house as well. I love the occasional classic kidlit!!