Those of us who take reading for granted should not. Reading this book brought so many feelings to the forefront for me. I have read a few books about the people of the hill country, in different areas, and this book made me so appreciative of those things I have in my home and my life. Lucy Wilson goes to help out Cora Wilson Stewart at first to ride a horse (she didn’t know how to ride when she first came to the mountain) into the country and to help the people write letters to others and to read letters those who received them. These adults can’t read and write, and they live in such primitive conditions. Yet they are so full of pride for what they do have. She ends up helping Cora to put together a school for adults, that takes advantage of the time when the children aren’t in school. Also, when the adults aren’t needed to work in their fields. This helps give Lucy a purpose, as she has been at loose ends ever since her sister disappeared and years later her Father remarried. She also meets Brother Wyatt with his unusual way of writing music down with words so that the people can follow them when he leads singing get togethers. This book is so full of reasons to read it, you won’t want to put it down, you’ll be horrified by the way the people live, their speech, and yet proud of them as they do so much with so little. Pick this book up! You’ll not be disappointed.
I received this
book in the kindle format through NetGalley.com and the words above were my own
freely given not required by NetGalley.
#TheMoonlightSchool #SuzanneWoodsFisher
#NetGalley
Description
Haunted
by her sister's mysterious disappearance, Lucy Wilson arrives in Rowan County,
Kentucky, in the spring of 1911 to work for Cora Wilson Stewart, superintendent
of education. When Cora sends Lucy into the hills to act as scribe for the
mountain people, she is repelled by the primitive conditions and intellectual
poverty she encounters. Few adults can read and write.
Born in those hills, Cora knows the plague of illiteracy. So does Brother
Wyatt, a singing schoolmaster who travels through the hills. Involving Lucy and
Wyatt, Cora hatches a plan to open the schoolhouses to adults on moonlit
nights. The best way to combat poverty, she believes, is to eliminate
illiteracy. But will the people come?
As Lucy emerges from a life in the shadows, she finds purpose; or maybe purpose
finds her. With purpose comes answers to her questions, and something else she
hadn't expected: love.
Inspired by the true events of the Moonlight Schools, this standalone novel
from bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher brings to life the story that
shocked the nation into taking adult literacy seriously. You'll finish the last
page of this enthralling story with deep gratitude for the gift of reading.
