The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
At first, I found this book rather slow to start; it took a chapter or two to get fully into. However, it quickly became one of my favourites! If you are a fan of Jojo Moyes, you will know how beautifully she grips your heart with her relatable characters and tales of dreamlike romance. ‘The Giver of Stars’ is no different and yet it is simultaneously worlds away from her usual theme. This book is based on the WPA’s Horseback Librarian programme in which a group of devoted women delivered books to rural families in the mountains of Kentucky in the 1930s.When writing this book Moyes journeyed to experience the lifestyle that the women would have lived and her passion for their stories is evident in her writing.
This fictional story follows a young English woman, Alice Wright, who hastily marries an American man in the hope of a new life of adventure and excitement, far away from her own. Soon, she finds that her marriage is not as she had imagined. As she navigates an unfamiliar and judgmental Kentucky, she pushes herself to her limits and discovers true happiness in a group of empowering women and their books. When a crime disrupts the town of Baileyville, their happiness is threatened, and the Horseback Librarians are faced with the possibility of losing all they have worked for.
As a woman and a reader, I was personally inspired by the strong female characters in this story and captured by the colourful picture Moyes paints of life as a horseback librarian. This book is a must-read!
Submitted by Tori McConnell.
