Reese's Book Club | November '19: The Giver of Stars
Image Source: amazon.com
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes is the Reese's Book Club x Hello Sunshine pick for November 2019! Set in Kentucky in the mid-1930’s, several women from completely different backgrounds volunteer to work for the brand new traveling horse-back library. Their aim was to bring books and education to those in the mountains, and they find themselves facing situations that completely change their lives. It is based on the real life Pack Horse Library initiative that ran from 1935 to 1943, and the fictional story is both fascinating and infuriating!
For more information about the Author, Reese’s Book Club, or my SPOILER FILLED thoughts on the book - scroll down!
my rating:
Here are some links to purchase the book and/or learn more about Jojo Moyes:
Book: amazon.com (*as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
Audiobook: audible.com
Jojo Moyes’ Website: jojomoyes.com
Jojo Moyes’ Instagram: @jojomoyesofficial
If you would like to find out more about Reese's Book Club and/or follow along as well, here are some helpful links!
Reese's Book Club x Hello Sunshine Website: hello-sunshine.com/book-club
Complete List of Monthly Picks: hello-sunshine.com/post/reeses-book-club-all-picks
Instagram: @reesesbookclub
Goodreads: goodreads.com
*** spoiler alert ***
It took me several days to get past the first few chapters of this book. It felt painfully slow and I was convinced I knew where it was going and what was going to happen. I thought that Bennett would eventually stand up to his Father, see reason in the way he was treating Alice, and that they’d both end up living happily ever after. I was so wrong and I loved that this story was about strong women, about the power of books, about unity and support, and about overcoming overwhelming obstacles.
I found myself getting anxiety and feeling all sorts of emotions as I read this book! On one hand, I loved the development of the characters and was proud of their individual growth. On the other hand, I felt genuinely livid at the way the female characters were treated, and I was beyond annoyed at the expectations surrounding their lives and behavior. My rage at the community is what made me fall in love with Margery. She lived how she wanted, spoke up when it was right, and did as she pleased - a woman after my own heart. The fact that she was always authentically herself was the best and most terrifying parts of her! It pissed me off that no matter how many people she helped, the fact that she lived outside of the “norm” of the time was what isolated her and lead people to judge her unfairly and harshly. How absolutely unjust that she could not speak up about the fact that she was probably going to be raped or die by a violent man! Although her character was fictional, the struggles she went through spoke true to the time. It’s insane how repressed women have been throughout history.
Speaking of forced repression, can we talk about the fact that people actually wanted to restrict access to books because it was taking away from their cleaning duties and teaching them about their legal rights to their land? I love how Moyes tackled this issue because it is a real thing that people do and have done throughout history! If you control the narrative and deny people access to an opportunity to learn or understand something, you hold a great power over them. Ugh, it’s appalling. I can’t even think about it. To totally digress here - if you haven’t read the book 1984, you totally should. It is one of my all-time favorites.
I’m so glad that in the end, Alice got her happy ending, Margery didn’t go to jail and got married to Sven, and Sophia got to work in a safer library. There were so many twists and turns (like Clem’s pregnant daughter, OMG), and that made the book a very entertaining one. Now I want to read more about the real Pack Horse Library!