The Giver of Stars - Jojo Moyes

Blurb

The greatest love story is the one you least expect . . .

Alice is stifled, bored, and misunderstood.

So when she meets wealthy and handsome American, Bennett Van Cleve, she is quickly swept off her feet.

Marrying him and moving to America seems like a great adventure - but life as a newlywed in stuffy Baileyville, Kentucky, is not at all what she hoped for.

Until, that is, she responds to a call for volunteers to start a travelling library, surprising herself by saying yes, before her husband can say no . . .

Led by feisty and rebellious Margery O'Hare, this unlikely group of women travel far and wide on their mission to bring books and reading to those that need it, and Alice finally finds the freedom, friendship, and love that she's been looking for.

But not everyone approves of what they are doing, especially her new father-in-law. And when the town turns against them, will their belief in each other and their work be enough?

Review

Good, but I wanted so much more!

This was billed as a 'historical Me Before You' - one of my favourite books ever, this just didn't come close to those heights for me.

I loved the premise of this novel, based on a true story about a group of women in 1930's Kentucky bringing books to rural inhabitants under the WPA's Horseback Librarian program. I expected heroines, an epic landscape and a remarkable story. But it fell flat for me, I found it one dimensional, melodramatic and difficult to warm to the characters. The ending was implausible with everything being wrapped up perfectly, too perfectly.

It's not a terrible book but it wasn't the compelling read I was expecting... for me it was overhyped.

⭐⭐⭐