The Moonlight by Suzanne Woods Fisher is Wonderful and Inspiring

...from the publisher...

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.

 

 

 

 

 

...my thoughts...

I just finished reading Suzanne Woods Fisher's latest historical fiction novel The Moonlight School.  I enjoyed the book very much in many ways.  The historical aspect of one woman's mission to eradicate illiteracy in hills and hollers of Kentucky was phenomenal. It is incredible that Cora Wilson Stewart was able to rouse a culture to an action that improved the lives of so many.  Literacy changes a way of life forever.  

The story unfolds when a reluctant Lucy is sent to Rowan County Kentucky to become her aunt Cora's assistant.  Fresh out of finishing school, she had no idea she was in for the culture shock of her life.  Suzanne Woods Fisher is a master at character development, and the Moonlight School is a canvas of characters waiting to develop.  Lucy is just one example of a character who came to life between the pages and grew to become an amazing woman.  She is an inspiring fictional character who proved to be an able assistant to the real life Cora Wilson Stewart, by overcoming her city ways to see the wonderful people of the hollers with full lives and stories of their own.

I recommend The Moonlight School as one of the important good books for the year.  It is inspiring, uplifting and a joy to read.