Marge is an independent woman who doesn't play by the rules, Alice is in a loveless marriage, Izzy is a woman with a disability who doesn't know her own potential, Beth is gruff and seems only there to give opportunity for dialogue and Sophia is the African American woman who is wise and is capable of performing miscellaneous skills such as fixing book covers and being a midwife and just when needed. All of these characters are tired old tropes. Marge, Alice, Beth, Izzy and Sophia are a tight group of women who get on horseback to bring the library to country folk living deep in the forests (except Sophia). 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. 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.īased on a true story rooted in America’s past, The Giver of Stars is unparalleled in its scope and epic in its storytelling. These heroic women refuse to be cowed by men or by convention. What happens to them - and to the men they love - becomes an unforgettable drama of loyalty, justice, humanity, and passion. They will be joined by three other singular women who become known as the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky. 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. 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. But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overbearing father-in-law. It’s such a great narrative about personal strength and really captures how books bring communities together.” (Reese Witherspoon)įrom 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.Īlice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England.

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