An Evening with Kim Michele Richardson, Author of The Book Woman’s Daughter

In partnership with the Friends of South Carolina Libraries and Blue Bicycle Books of Charleston, the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with bestselling historical novelist Kim Michele Richardson, author The Book Woman’s Daughter, in conversation with Holland Perryman and Jonathan Haupt. This special event will be presented virtually on Zoom and live-streamed on the Conroy Center’s Facebook page. Signed copies of The Book Woman’s Daughter (to be published in May) and The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek are available through Blue Bicycle Books.

To attend on Zoom, register in advance by May 8 at https://aneveningwithkimmichelerichardson.eventbrite.com

About the Book

Bestselling historical fiction author Kim Michele Richardson is back with the perfect book club read following Honey Lovett, the daughter of the beloved Troublesome book woman, who must fight for her own independence with the help of the women who guide her and the books that set her free.

In the ruggedness of the beautiful Kentucky mountains, Honey Lovett has always known that the old ways can make a hard life harder. As the daughter of the famed blue-skinned, Troublesome Creek packhorse librarian, Honey and her family have been hiding from the law all her life. But when her mother and father are imprisoned, Honey realizes she must fight to stay free, or risk being sent away for good.

Picking up her mother’s old packhorse library route, Honey begins to deliver books to the remote hollers of Appalachia. Honey is looking to prove that she doesn’t need anyone telling her how to survive. But the route can be treacherous, and some folks aren’t as keen to let a woman pave her own way.

If Honey wants to bring the freedom books provide to the families who need it most, she’s going to have to fight for her place, and along the way, learn that the extraordinary women who run the hills and hollers can make all the difference in the world.

“In Kim Michele Richardson’s beautifully and authentically rendered The Book Woman’s Daughter she once again paints a stunning portrait of the raw, somber beauty of Appalachia, the strong resolve of remarkable women living in a world dominated by men, and the power of books and sisterhood to prevail in the harshest circumstances. A critical and profoundly important read for our time. Badassery womanhood at its best!”―Sara Gruen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Water for Elephants

“Fierce, beautiful and inspirational, Kim Michele Richardson has created a powerful tale about brave extraordinary heroines who are downright haunting and unforgettable.”―Abbott Kahler, New York Times bestselling author (as Karen Abbott) of The Ghosts of Eden Park

About the Author

The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today bestselling author, KIM MICHELE RICHARDSON has written five works of historical fiction, and a bestselling memoir, The Unbreakable Child.

Her critically acclaimed novel The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek has earned a 2020 PBS Readers Choice, 2019 LibraryReads Best Book, Indie Next, SIBA, Forbes Best Historical Novel, Book-A-Million Best Fiction, and is an Oprah’s Buzziest Books pick and a Women’s National Book Association Great Group Reads selection. It was inspired by the real life, remarkable “blue people” of Kentucky, and the fierce, brave Packhorse Librarians who used the power of literacy to overcome bigotry and fear during the Great Depression. The novel is taught widely in high schools and college classrooms.

Her forthcoming fifth novel, The Book Woman’s Daughter is both a stand-alone and sequel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and will be published in May 3. Kim Michele lives with her family in Kentucky and is the founder of Shy Rabbit writers retreat. www.kimmichelerichardson.com

About the Hosts

The first intern of the nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center and of the Friends of South Carolina Libraries, Beaufort High School senior and student body president HOLLAND PERRYMAN is an award-winning young writer whose work has been featured in the Charleston Post and Courier, Lowcountry Weekly, Southern Review of Books, and the anthologies River of Words and Stretching Skyward. She is the founder of DAYLO: Diversity Awareness Youth Literacy Organization.

JONATHAN HAUPT is the executive director of the Pat Conroy Literary Center, the former director of the University of South Carolina Press, and coeditor of the award-winning anthology Our Prince of Scribes: Writers Remember Pat Conroy. He serves on the boards of the Friends of South Carolina Libraries and the South Carolina Academy of Authors.

Learn more about the Pat Conroy Literary Center: www.patconroyliterarycenter.org

Learn more about Blue Bicycle Books: www.bluebicyclebooks.com

Learn more about the Friends of South Carolina Libraries: http://foscl.org