Although the novel gets off to a slow start, once Cussy begins traveling to the city for medical testing, the stakes get higher, as does the suspense of the story. As Doc finds answers about Cussy’s condition, she begins to re-examine what it means to be a Blue and what life after a cure might look like.

The local doctor agrees to protect Cussy in exchange for her submission to medical testing. When a local pastor takes a nefarious interest in Cussy, claiming that God has sent him to rid society of her “blue demons,” efforts to defend herself leave Cussy at risk of arrest, or worse. Cussy’s patrons refer to her as “Bluet” or “Book Woman,” and she delights in bringing them books as well as messages, medicine, and advice. As part of the new governmental program aimed at bringing reading material to isolated rural Kentuckians, Cussy rides a mule over treacherous terrain, delivering books and periodicals to people of limited means. Cussy would rather keep her job as a pack-horse librarian than keep house for a husband anyway. Unfortunately, with blue skin and questionable genetics, Cussy is a tough sell. Cussy lives with her widowed father, a coal miner who relentlessly attempts to marry her off. She was born with a rare genetic condition, and her skin has always been tinged an allover deep blue. One of Kentucky’s last living “Blue People” works as a traveling librarian in 1930s Appalachia.Ĭussy Mary Carter is a 19-year-old from Troublesome Creek, Kentucky.

The book of woman of troublesome creek