The very existence of libraries is the best proof that we can have hope for the future of man’ . T.S.Eliot
Finally the book “The Blue Girl”, American best seller of the year, has arrived in Italy. We are in the Thirties of the Great Depression. The protagonist is the 19 years old Cussy Mary Carter: she is beautiful, independent, intelligent, cultured…with blue skin!!! Is she an alien? No. She is the only witness to a people who were segregated in the Appalachian Mountains because of the colour of their skin. The book is based on a family that actually existed with a very rare condition called metemoglobinemia that causes blue skin. In the United States it was first discovered in the Fugate family of Troublesome Creek, eastern Kentucky. Mary, called Bluette, inherites from her ancestors not only the colour of her skin, but also an incredible desire to learn; a great curiosity towards everything that happens around her. Adhering to the project of spreading culture conceived by Eleanor Roosevelt, she climbs on the back of a mule full of books to the most inaccessible areas to spread in those who she meets the love of reading. A commitment and a mission because Bluette is stubborn and motivated. She fights against prejudice, in search of her social redemption and true love. Around Bluette several characters move: her father, who tries to marry her to anyone who can protect her and a fanatical preacher, Frazier, convinced that the colour of the girl’s skin is indicative of sin. Intolerance, prejudice, diversity, freedom, culture, the role of women: the ingredients of this interesting book.
