“I worked it out sitting here. Maybe that’s the thing we need to understand, Alice. That some things are a gift, even if you don’t get to keep them.”
There was a silence before he spoke again.
“Maybe just to know that something this beautiful exists is all we can really ask for.”
You can never go wrong with Moyes. Her stories are enchanting and always have a way to keep you completed absorbed in their magical world. The Giver of stars did just that; A charming tale about sisterhood, friendship, and the love of reading. Set in the 1930s Kentucky, a group of women set out to work in the WPA horseback library.
An initiative that employed women to deliver books to remote mountain areas in Kentucky, to people who did not have easy access to the libraries. Delivering books and magazines to encourage reading to all age groups. A successful venture that ran from the 1930s to the early 1940s.
Alice and Bennet fall in love almost instantly. They got married and traveled back to Kentucky from England, to live with Bennet’s father and start their lives together. A new country, new faces, Alice took some time to get used to her new life as Mrs. Van Cleve. When the town started the library, Alice was one of the first women to raise her hand for the job. At least this would get her out of the silent walls of the house. The library is not a well-accepted endeavour by the community; Mostly because of the women heading the project.
Margery, someone who lived life on her terms, gladly turned away from the gossip around her family’s history. For the first few weeks, Alice followed Margery around on her routes delivering books, silently observing her surroundings and remembering the paths around the mountains. Soon enough, a few more women joined the pack and together they rode their horses giving out books and occasionally having a cup of coffee and reading out to some of those residents. Over time, Alice had forged these special bonds with her colleagues, who she would grow to call her family. She felt more at home at the library with these ladies than she did with her husband. But what would she do to save this new family when the town has their agendas to close this library down and would not stop at any moral cost.
After I read the book, I read a little about these libraries. The whole concept of these women on horses delivering books fascinated me! Something about sharing books and being able to spread that joy, is so heartwarming and fulfilling, to me personally, at least. Moyes has weaved these historic facts with an endearing fictional story of Baileyville and its mixed bag of characters. I’ve been a Moyes fan since I read ‘The Girl You Left Behind,' and that fondness for her writing has only grown through the many other books I have read by her. ‘The Giver of Stars’ is a gratifying book that will have you smiling and your heart content as you turn that last page.
“Look outwards, Alice. Not much point worrying what the town thinks about you - nothing you can do about that anyway. But when you look outwards, why, there's a whole world of beautiful things.”