Starred review from September 1, 2020
With the Great Depression underway, Emmett Tharp's college degree feels useless in his coal-mining hometown, Boone's Hollow. When the Works Progress Administration library hires him as its manager, and sweet Addie Cowherd arrives to work as a librarian on horseback, delivering books to families living up the mountain, Emmett thinks his luck may finally be changing for the better. In spite of his best efforts to remain professional, however, he is drawn to Addie's unfaltering kindness and steadfast faith. But she is unfamiliar with the hill people's generational grudges and superstitious fear of outsiders, and before long, she attracts the wrong kind of attention, jeopardizing both the library and Emmett's job. Sawyer provides a delightful look into the rich history behind the historic pack-horse librarians of Appalachia, sweeping readers into the backwoods of 1936 Kentucky with fantastic period details and dialects that shift with each character's point of view. Contrasts between characters' frames of mind, such as propriety and faith versus anger and fear, create emotional depth and allow Sawyer to celebrate the healing power of kindness and love. With a grace-based message of self-worth, this suspenseful historical romance is sure to charm readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)