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Kentucky Books: Best Novels Set in the Bluegrass State
By: Angela & Melissa
Updated:
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we may earn a referral fee from qualifying purchases.Whether you’re participating in our Read Around the USA Challenge or simply found your way to our website researching books set in Kentucky, we’ve curated a diverse list of highly-rated titles about the Bluegrass State! If you’re looking for another state, check our comprehensive list of books set in every state.
A Few Things Kentucky is Known For…
When most of us think of Kentucky, horse racing is the first thing that comes to mind, with bourbon perhaps being a close second. Both of these are major economic drivers in the Bluegrass State, contributing billions of dollars to the economy each year.
In 1792, Kentucky became the 15th state and the first state west of the Appalachian Mountains. When the Civil War began in 1861, Kentucky – the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln – officially declared its neutrality, although some 35,000 Kentuckians ultimately served as Confederate soldiers, and 125,000 served as Union soldiers. Race horses were also in high demand during the war, and many farms were raided for horses to carry out war duties.
During the Great Depression, horses took on a new role as part of the Pack Horse Librarian project. The program hired women to deliver books and magazines to rural communities in Eastern Kentucky on horseback.
The Kentucky Derby, held annually on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, is one of the most famous horse races in the world. The Kentucky Derby was first run in 1875 and has been held every year since, except for 1918 and 1945, when it was canceled due to World War I and World War II, respectively.
The Best Books Set in Kentucky
The Moonflowers
Book Summary
Tig’s grandfather Benjamin is a local hero in his rural Appalachian town because of his unimpeachable war service. But, he’s a stranger to Tig, as he was murdered 50 years earlier by Eloise Price.
When Tig is commissioned to paint a portrait of Benjamin in Darren, Kentucky, she wants to talk to Eloise, who is still alive in a state institution. And Eloise is ready to tell a lifetime of stories about herself, Tig’s grandmother, and the other brave and desperate women who passed through Benjamin’s orbit.
As Tig pieces her mysterious family tree together, she must reconcile her own painful past.
The Book Girls Say…
This dual-time novel features both the 1940s and 1990s, along with multiple points of view.
NOTE: Please check trigger warnings if needed, the book includes some difficult topics, but we’re not sharing them here as one in particular is a spoiler.
Book Summary
Colton Gentry finally has a hit song after a decade-long slump. He’s on tour opening for a super-star, and he’s even married to another hot star. But he’s not okay.
His best friend, Duane, was recently murdered on stage by a mass shooter at a festival. Colton continued to perform, but one night, his ongoing grief and Jim Beam led him to share his unfiltered opinion on guns in front of the audience. It doesn’t go over well.
As his career and marriage simultaneously implode, Colton retreats to his rural Kentucky hometown. With limited choices, he doesn’t have a real plan for the next steps when he has a chance encounter at his town’s new farm-to-table restaurant. Now, he has a second shot at a job working in the kitchen with Luann, his first love, who has undergone her own reinvention.
The Book Girls Say…
This novel alternates timelines between Colton’s senior year of high school in Kentucky, the early years in Nashville with Duane, and the present.
Horse
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
Through the true story of a racehorse named Lexington, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks manages to weave a tale of spirit and injustice over 150 years of American history.
The book has three timelines. In 1850, you’ll meet an enslaved horse groomer, Jarrett, in Kentucky, who has a special bond with Lexington. There is also a young artist who paints images of the horse. When the Civil War erupts, the artist fights for the union and runs into the young groom and stallion again far from the track.
In 1954, a gallery owner on Martha’s Vineyard takes a special interest in a 19th-century equestrian oil painting, even though the artist and provenance are unknown.
In 2019, a Smithsonian scientist from Australia and a Nigerian-American art historian unexpectedly connect through a common interest in the painting as they look for clues to the origin.
The Book Girls Say…
This story goes well beyond horse racing and art. The page-turning storytelling has detailed descriptions and depth that will stick with you long after you finish the book. We both rated it 5 stars, and our readers agree with their average rating being of 4.63 out of 5.
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The Giver of Stars
Book Summary
When English Alice Wright marries an American, she looks forward to moving to the US. But life in Kentucky comes with an overbearing father-in-law, so Alice takes an opportunity to join Eleanor Roosevelt’s team of traveling packhorse librarians.
Alice bans together with Margery and three other women to become the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky. In this beautiful story about making a difference, they must rely on friendship, courage, and perseverance.
Also Featured on These Book Lists:
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Camper & Criminals Mystery Series
Book Summary
Each book of the Campers & Criminals cozy mystery series is set in Normal, Kentucky (where nothing is normal), and all are filled with southern, small-town charm.
In the first book, Beaches, Bungalows & Burglaries, we meet Mae West, whose fancy lifestyle in New York City comes crashing down around her when her husband is implicated in a Ponzi scheme and the FBI raids their mansion.
With no one to turn to and no money to her name, Mae is left with the only thing the government didn’t seize – a tourist campground called Happy Trails and an RV. Mae hopes that selling Happy Trails will give her the influx of cash she needs, but in the meantime – with nowhere else to live – she’s moving in.
When she arrives, the plush bluegrass and crystal clear lake of the brochure are nowhere to be found. There’s just a lot of dirt and a slimy, mucky lake. A lake where her husband – who escaped from prison – is found dead.
It’s no surprise that Mae is the prime suspect. To clear her name, she’ll need to convince the detective to investigate all the residents who lost their savings to her husband’s scheming.
The Book Girls Say…
As an added bonus, there are recipes included in each book in this fun mystery series.
The 40th book in the series is scheduled to be released on 4/5/2025. While it currently shows a price on Amazon, we believe that once the release date is here, it will be included with Kindle Unlimited, like the first 39 books in the series.
Clay’s Quilt
Book Summary
After losing his mother when he was just 4 years old, Clay is raised by extended family, including his Aunt Easter and his Uncle Paul. As Clay grows, he is desperate to piece together the memories of his mother. Paul, a quilter, teaches him that he can create something new and beautiful by stitching together parts and pieces.
This novel paints a vivid portrait of a rural mining town in the mountains of Kentucky over the past century. In Appalachian culture, quilts serve as a family photo album. As Clay grows from a boy to a man struggling to find his way, Paul makes a quilt for Clay that helps him reconcile his past so that he can move toward a better future.
The Book Girls Say…
Clay’s Quilt is the debut novel of best-selling author Silas House. It’s the first in a trilogy, with the two subsequent books, A Parchment of Leaves and The Coal Tattoo, sharing a setting and some characters. However, each book also reads well as a stand-alone.
When in Rome
Book Summary
Amelia, aka Rae Rose, is a pop star feeling totally burnt out by years of maintaining her image for all of her adoring fans. She’s in desperate need of a break and would love to escape to Rome, as Audrey Hepburn does in her favorite film. But since she can’t discreetly get to Rome, Italy, she hops in the car and heads to Rome, Kentucky.
Noah runs his grandmother’s pie shop in Rome, and isn’t impressed when Amelia appears on his front lawn in her broken-down car. He’s the town grump, doesn’t have Wifi or a cell phone, and prioritizes privacy. But when the local B&B turns Amelia away because they don’t have any vacancies, he reluctantly agrees to let Amelia stay in his guest room.
The Book Girls Say…
This rom-com is a loose retelling of the Audrey Hepburn movie Roman Holiday, so it’s a fun treat for fans of the classic movie. It’s also a sweet closed-door book (no graphic sex scenes per reviewers).
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All the Forgivenesses
Book Summary
Set around 1900, this is a coming-of-age novel that starts when Bertie is fifteen years old in rural Kentucky. Her mom has taught her all the essentials of life on a farm, from making pie crust to lancing a boil. However, the hardest job, being a mom, isn’t something Bertie was fully prepared for when her mama died. Bertie is left to care for four younger siblings and their unreliable dad.
Eventually, Bertie has to make a tough decision. She keeps the girls and sends the boys off to live with their older brothers. Then, she finds a husband willing to marry her and help care for her sisters. The young family then moves on from Kentucky to the oil fields of Kansas, where she’ll find new heartaches but also joy.
The Book Girls Say…
While this book is partially set in Kansas, the first half in southeast Kentucky is said to be a realistic portrayal of life in Appalachia at the turn of the century.
Book Summary
CeCe has been in a toxic relationship her entire adult life. But now, with her engagement broken, she’s headed home to Laurel Creek, Kentucky to reset. She’s not the only one newly back in town, Nash Carter, her brother’s best friend has also returned after retiring as a superstar hockey player of the Dallas Stars.
When CeCe needs a job, Nash feels drawn to help her. But he also can’t take his eyes off her…she doesn’t feel like his best friend’s pesky younger sister anymore.
The Book Girls Say…
There are two additional books in the Silver Pines Ranch series if you enjoy this setting! This novel is steamy with open-door bedroom scenes, so skip it if you don’t prefer that style of romance book.
The Birds of Opulence
Book Summary
This novel centers around four generations of Black women in Opulence, Kentucky. Everyone in the rural town knows everyone else’s secrets.
Minnie Mae is the matriarch of the Goode-Brown family—a family plagued by inherited mental illness, trauma, and moral judgment.
As the members of the youngest generation watch their mothers and grandmothers pass away, they fear going mad and must fight to survive.
The Book Girls Say…
This historical fiction novel is both tragic and hopeful. Reviewers praise the lyrical quality of the writing and the vibrant descriptions that allow you to experience life through each character’s eyes over thirty years.
Be aware that this book deals with mental illness, self-harm, and rape. Much like some real families, the Goode-Brown women endure more than their fair share of tragedy throughout the book.
While Opulence is a fictional town, the author was raised on her grandparent’s farm in Indian Creek, Kentucky. Her work is an homage to her Appalachian roots.
A Matter of Happiness
Book Summary
This dual-timeline historical fiction is split between 1921 Detroit and 2018 Louisville, Kentucky. As a child, Melanie spent a week every summer with her great-aunt, Violet. Years later, Violet left her car to Melanie in her will. In it, Melanie discovers her aunt’s journal filled with secrets from the past.
In the early 1920s, Violet moved to Detroit, seeking a life of adventure at the heart of the motorcar boom. But in an era of speakeasies, financial windfalls, and unexpected romance, it didn’t take long before things spun out of control.
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
Book Girls’ Readers Rate This Book
Book Summary
The impoverished residents of Troublesome Creek struggle for nearly everything, but thanks to Roosevelt’s Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project, they aren’t lacking books.
Book woman Cussy Mary Carter is not only Troublesome Creek’s own traveling library but also the last living female of the rare Blue People ancestry. However, not everyone approves of Cussy’s family or the government Library Project. Cussy wants to bring the joy of books to the hill folks, but she has to confront prejudice and suspicion as old as the Appalachians.
The Book Girls Say…
The sequel, The Book Woman’s Daughter, is also set in Kentucky two decades later, in the 1950s.
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Don’t Back Down
Book Summary
Cameron Pope, an Army veteran, is back in Jubilee, Kentucky for the first time in years. He’s barely settled in when he becomes embroiled in a race of life or death for his little niece. Human traffickers have destroyed the peace of this mountain town and must be caught.
He is reunited with Rusty, a woman he had a one-night-stand with before he deployed to Afghanistan but has never stopped thinking about. But just when he believes this may be their chance at love, he learns that she is part of a rich family that scorns families like his. They will have to find a way to end the feuding and take down the human trafficking ring (with the help of his trained dog, Ghost) if they’re to have a chance at happiness.
The Book Girls Say…
If you enjoy this read, there are currently 3 other titles in this series focused on Jubilee, Kentucky and the Pope family.
Light to the Hills
Book Summary
In this novel, Amanda is a packhorse librarian bringing books to rural Kentucky amid the nation’s economic collapse. Along with books, she brings hope and courage to her clients, including the MacInteer family. As she becomes closer to the family, she tells them a secret from her past that leads to their lives intersecting in unexpected new ways.
The Book Girls Say…
If you loved this book, don’t miss The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek and Giver of Stars!
Prodigal Summer
Book Summary
Set in southern Appalachia, Prodigal Summer has been called a Hymn to the wilderness. Set over one summer, three stories intertwine into one nature-focused tale.
Deanna Wolfe is a wildlife biologist on a mission to save a family of coyotes.
Lusa Maluf Landowski is a young, widowed scientist obsessed with insects.
Nannie Land Rawley is a 70-year-old apple grower.
Separately, they all have challenges with the land and with relationships. Before fall, you’ll see their very different stories merge into one.
That Distant Land: The Collected Stories
Book Summary
“That Distant Land” is a collection of 23 short stories exploring the lives of various characters living in a small community in rural Kentucky. The stories are set during the 20th century and offer glimpses into the everyday struggles, joys, and sorrows of the people who live there.
The collection combines three of Wendell’s prior story collections (“The Wild Birds,” “Fidelity,” and “Watch With Me”) and also includes four never-before-collected stories as well as a map of the setting. The stories in each section are interconnected, with recurring characters and themes.
Among the characters in these stories is Hannah Coulter, who is the title character in one of Wendell Berry’s full-length novels. The novel titled Hannah Coulter is set much later, when she is 80 years old and reflecting back on her life. If you enjoy the stories in That Distant Land, Hannah Coulter will make an excellent follow-up read.
The Book Girls Say…
Author Wendell Berry is a renowned poet, author, essayist, and farmer. The New York Times called Berry the “prophet of rural America.” He was born in Henry County, Kentucky, in 1934, and he has lived on a farm near his birthplace for over 40 years. He received his BA and MA from The University of Kentucky and Lexington. His writings are very character-driven, emphasizing the lives and experiences of the individuals rather than on a complex or twisting plot.
The Love That Split the World
Book Summary
After graduating high school, Natalie is enjoying her final summer in her small Kentucky hometown when she starts to get glimpses of an alternate reality. Soon, these visions escalate from a quick snippet of her front door painted a different color than normal to more dramatic and prolonged experiences, like her entire town disappearing for hours, replaced by rolling hills and grazing buffalo.
Natalie is visited by an apparition who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the lights of her high school’s football field, she meets a boy named Beau.
These teens are the only two who can see two different versions of their small town. Reaching through time, they work together in an attempt to solve the mystery of their magical connection before time runs out.
The Book Girls Say…
This debut novel is described as Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler’s Wife.
Appalachian Elegy: Poetry and Place
Book Summary
This 96-page book of poetry will introduce you to bell hooks, who was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, in 1952. Her poetry, novels, memoirs, and children’s books reflect her Appalachian upbringing and feature her struggles with racially integrated schools and unwelcome authority figures.
This collection highlights the works inspired by her childhood in the hills of Kentucky and draws you into life in 1950s-1960s Appalachia.
The Book Girls Say…
Gloria Jean Watkins, who wrote under the name bell hooks (intentionally lowercase), was an African-American author, professor, feminist, and social activist. She was included in TIME magazine’s “100 Women of the Year” in 2020.
The Patron Saint of Liars
Book Summary
Rose goes to St. Elizabeth’s, a home for unwed mothers in Habit, Kentucky, when she is pregnant but not unwed. She plans to give her daughter, Cecilia, up for adoption when she is born, but instead makes a home for herself and her daughter at St. Elizabeth’s.
Unfortunately, it’s not that easy to leave your past behind. Instead, it impacts who you become as a person and affects all your future decisions.
The Book Girls Say…
This book was Ann Patchett’s debut novel, originally published in 1992. While that feels like yesterday to us, we’re forced to admit it was over 30 years ago. While many still rate this debut highly, it’s a slow-burn, character-driven read with some unlikable characters going through a lot of difficult times. So, make sure you’re in the mood/headspace for that before grabbing it.
Groundskeeping
Book Summary
Owen is an aspiring writer who must move back to his home state of Kentucky to move in with his vocal Trump-supporting uncle and grandfather. For work, he finds a job as a groundskeeper at a local college that will let him exchange some of his work hours for admission into a writing course.
In the writing class, he meets Alma, a Bosnian immigrant who is already a successful writer with an Ivy League education. As Alma and Owen’s relationship grows, she has trouble understanding Owen’s fraught relationships with his family.
The Book Girls Say…
This former Read with Jenna deals with 2016 election, but she says it brings a message of uniting vs division. We were excited to put it on our list, but the reviews have been mixed.
Fifty-five percent of readers really enjoy it, giving it 4 or 5 stars, but another large group finds it to be more of a 3 star read. Those who don’t enjoy it have issues with the lack of quotation marks (WHY DID THIS BECOME A THING?!?) and that the book is told all from Owen’s perspective, and much of the book is his observations about the world and himself. Those who love it praise the beautiful writing and insight into today’s world.
Read Around the USA – Books Set in Other States
We hope you enjoyed this book list of books about Kentucky and found some great titles to add to your TBR. If you’re participating in our Read Around the USA Challenge, be sure to check out our alphabetical index of books set in each state.
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