Moyes traveled to the Cumberland Mountains to research the book and, as she writes in the Acknowledgments, to talk to residents “without whose voices I wouldn’t have found those of my heroines.” Also similarly to The Ship of Brides, Moyes envisioned several women from very different backgrounds who were thrown together by the historical circumstances she highlights and whose friendship came to nourish and sustain them. The program, operating between 19, was particularly successful in Kentucky, where librarians traveled by horseback and foot to connect around 100,000 residents with reading material. At an American Library Association council meeting in May 1936, it was estimated that one-third of Americans were without ‘reasonable’ public library access.Įnter the Works Progress Administration’s library projects, which served forty-five states, and employed approximately 14,500 people-some of whom were experienced librarians put back to work.” The public served by the libraries was suffering, too. Libraries were no exception, with budgets slashed and former workers now facing unemployment. “The Great Depression of the 1930s left millions of Americans and industries struggling. In The Giver of Stars, Moyes introduces us to the Pack Horse Library Project, one of FDR’s programs to provide employment and social benefits during the Great Depression.Īs the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA), in an excellent online exhibit about the program, explains:

Like her book, The Ship of Brides, this one tells a story that offers a glimpse into history about which many people were unaware. I always enjoy reading novels by Jojo Moyes.

Jojo moyes the giver of stars