Alice never fit into proper English society, so she is easily swept off her feet by the handsome American. They marry quickly and she travels with him back to Kentucky, feeling like the heroine of a romantic novel. She is a little dismayed to find she is living in a big house in a small town with her father-in-law, a controlling mining mogul. Her handsome husband turns out to be rather unaffectionate, and she is soon so lonely, that she volunteers to help deliver books as part of a new traveling librarian initiative proposed by Eleanor Roosevelt. That is how she meets Margaret O'Hare, an independent and unconventional mountain woman who soon becomes her mentor and friend. Other women join the group and they gradually develop a sisterhood that supports each of them through their trials.This is a really hot title on Overdrive right now, is a national best seller and is optioned to make a major motion picture. The writing is lovely, but rather soulful and melancholy. I must admit, I almost gave up on it half way through. I just am not handling anything that is angsty very well right now. But I set the play back to 1.25 speed and stuck with it. The ending, though a bit improbable, was redeeming, and made the book worth the effort. If you like atmospheric historical fiction with a lot of relationship and emotional struggle, this is the book for you. (2019, 400 p.)
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