During the Great Depression the Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project was created to bring books to the poor mountain people of the state. In this novel Cussy Mary Carter is one of a group of women who rode from shack to shack delivering books, magazines, newspapers, and human contact. Cussy is also one of the "Blue People" of Kentucky, suffering from the recessive gene disorder methemoglobinemia. Because of their skin color the "Blues" were discriminated against and viewed with suspicion the same as the African-Americans in the region. Cussy and her father live a life of poverty even though he works hard as a coal miner. Cussy is proud of her work and does her best for the people she serves often going above and beyond her duties by bringing food to the starving, medical aid to the ill, and providing companionship to the lonely in spite of her personal hardships. It's a nice story of some little known topics with a little romance on the side. Incidentally the area around Troublesome Creek is where many of the real "Blue People" lived.
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