When Works Progress Administration (WPA) editor Millie Lang finds herself on the wrong end of a potential political scandal, she’s shipped off to Montana to work on the state’s American Guide Series—travel books intended to put the nation’s destitute writers to work.
Millie arrives to an eclectic staff claiming their missed deadlines are due to sabotage, possibly from the state’s powerful Copper Kings who don’t want their long and bloody history with union organizers aired for the rest of the country to read. But Millie begins to suspect that the answer might instead lie with the town’s mysterious librarian, Alice Monroe.
More than a decade earlier, Alice Monroe created the Boxcar Library in order to deliver books to isolated mining towns where men longed for entertainment and connection. Alice thought she found the perfect librarian to staff the train car in Colette Durand, a miner’s daughter with a shotgun and too many secrets behind her eyes.
Now, no one in Missoula will tell Millie why both Alice and Colette went out on the inaugural journey of the Boxcar Library, but only Alice returned.
The three women’s stories dramatically converge in the search to uncover what someone is so desperately trying to what happened to Colette Durand.
Inspired by the fascinating, true history of Missoula’s Boxcar Library, the novel blends the story of the strong, courageous women who survived and thrived in the rough and rowdy West with that of the power of standing together to fight for workers’ lives. And through it all shines the capacity of books to provide connection and light to those who need it most.
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First line:
Millie Lang could hear the girls gossiping through the thin walls of the boarding house.
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Source:
Source:
Netgalley eARC in exchange for an honest review
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Rating:
5 Libraries out of 5
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Publication date:
March 4, 2025
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I cannot begin to explain to you how much this book changed my brain chemistry. A story told in three converging POVs, Alice, Millie, and Collette's stories tell of fighting for what is right, revenge, and love all centered around the power of books and storytelling. We meet Millie first in 1936 where she works as an editor on The American Guide project. She gets sent to Montana to figure out who is sabotaging the manuscripts. Alice's story starts in 1924 where we learn who is librarian who brings books to one of the closer mining camps but dreams of being able to reach more people. Collette has learned a lot from her father in 1914, including her passion for workers' rights and storytelling.
I laughed, I cried, I was on the edge of my seat. I definitely didn't see a couple of the plot twists coming. I always think it's a testament to the author when they can make you cry at the beautiful moments too, not just the heartbreaking ones, and Labuskes has done that for me in this novel.
I think readers of all kinds will enjoy this book. Definitely a must read 2025 release! I've already been telling my friends and family they have to read this when it releases! I will definitely be scrambling to get my hands on more of Labuskes novels.
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