Chap­ter 1 begins in the small town of Bai­leyville, Ken­tucky, dur­ing an unusu­al­ly warm Sep­tem­ber, where the air is thick with heat and ten­sion as the towns­peo­ple gath­er in the local hall. Alice Van Cleve, an Eng­lish­woman who recent­ly moved to Amer­i­ca after mar­ry­ing her hus­band, Ben­nett, finds her­self trapped in a life she nev­er anticipated—one filled with rigid social expec­ta­tions, suf­fo­cat­ing rou­tine, and a mar­riage that feels more like an oblig­a­tion than a part­ner­ship. The com­mu­ni­ty meet­ing, which should have been a live­ly event, is yet anoth­er exer­cise in endurance for Alice, as she strug­gles to adjust to the slow and pre­dictable rhythm of life in this con­ser­v­a­tive town.

As the meet­ing pro­gress­es, Mrs. Brady, a well-respect­ed com­mu­ni­ty leader, intro­duces an ini­tia­tive that sparks intrigue—Baileyville has been select­ed to par­tic­i­pate in the Works Progress Administration’s (WPA) Pack­horse Library project. Inspired by the Roo­sevelts’ vision of increas­ing lit­er­a­cy across rur­al Amer­i­ca, this ini­tia­tive seeks to bring books to iso­lat­ed fam­i­lies who have lit­tle or no access to read­ing mate­r­i­al. Mrs. Brady pas­sion­ate­ly explains that women will ride through the rugged moun­tain ter­rain, deliv­er­ing books and news­pa­pers to house­holds miles away from the town cen­ter, but the idea is met with skep­ti­cism from the male-dom­i­nat­ed audi­ence.

The town’s men express doubt about whether women should take on such a role, with some argu­ing that their time would be bet­ter spent tend­ing to their homes and fam­i­lies. Despite the resis­tance, Mrs. Brady insists that the library’s suc­cess depends on ded­i­cat­ed vol­un­teers, will­ing to brave the long hours and dif­fi­cult trails to bring edu­ca­tion and enter­tain­ment to those in need. It is in this moment, as she lis­tens to the dis­mis­sive mur­murs and hes­i­tant nods around the room, that Alice real­izes this could be the oppor­tu­ni­ty she has been search­ing for—a chance to carve out a pur­pose beyond the lim­i­ta­tions of her mar­riage.

Alice vol­un­teers, much to the shock of her hus­band, Ben­nett, and the qui­et dis­ap­proval of her father-in-law, Mr. Van Cleve, who believes that such an endeav­or is unbe­com­ing for a mar­ried woman. She is acute­ly aware of the weight of their expectations—that she should be focused on being an obe­di­ent wife, man­ag­ing their house­hold, and prepar­ing for moth­er­hood. But instead of con­form­ing, Alice feels a flick­er of rebel­lion and excite­ment; this library project is more than just deliv­er­ing books—it is a gate­way to free­dom, a way to explore the land, con­nect with peo­ple, and reclaim a part of her­self that she has felt slip­ping away since arriv­ing in Bai­leyville.

Margery O’Hare, a fierce­ly inde­pen­dent and out­spo­ken woman already involved in the project, speaks up to reas­sure the com­mu­ni­ty that Alice will be trained and looked after. Unlike the oth­er women in town, Margery does not con­cern her­self with social approval, and her con­fi­dence in Alice fur­ther solid­i­fies Alice’s deci­sion to move for­ward with the library work. With that, the meet­ing con­cludes, leav­ing Alice with a renewed sense of deter­mi­na­tion, despite the dis­ap­prov­ing glances and whis­pered con­cerns that fol­low her as she steps out into the warm night air.

As Alice and Ben­nett walk home, the ten­sion between them is undeniable—Bennett, raised in the shad­ow of his dom­i­neer­ing father, is vis­i­bly uncom­fort­able with Alice’s deci­sion, yet he offers lit­tle resis­tance beyond a few weak protests. Alice, mean­while, feels the first stir­rings of real excite­ment since arriv­ing in Ken­tucky, sens­ing that this job might be the key to unlock­ing a life she could actu­al­ly love. The Pack­horse Library, with its promise of adven­ture and pur­pose, rep­re­sents a break from the monot­o­ny and a chance to con­tribute some­thing mean­ing­ful, not just to the town, but to her­self.

Thus, Chap­ter 1 lays the foun­da­tion for Alice’s jour­ney, not just as a librar­i­an, but as a woman on the brink of self-dis­cov­ery. Her deci­sion to join the library ini­tia­tive marks a qui­et yet sig­nif­i­cant rebel­lion against the expec­ta­tions placed upon her, set­ting her on a path toward inde­pen­dence, resilience, and an unchart­ed future in the hills of Ken­tucky. With the moun­tains stretch­ing before her and the scent of change in the air, Alice steps for­ward, ready to embrace what­ev­er comes next.