A private album tied to a Kentucky novel
Before Dolly Parton died in August 2026, Kentucky author Kim Michele Richardson says the singer sent her 15 unreleased songs inspired by Richardson’s 2019 novel, The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek. The Courier-Journal based its account on Richardson’s statement for the Frazier History Museum, while WDRB+WAVE separately reported that Richardson possesses the recordings. In the accompanying letter, Parton wrote, “I read and loved the book and was inspired to write some songs.”
Richardson described the album as an unusually meaningful gift and said Parton’s support had a lasting effect on her. Those characterizations come from Richardson’s statements reported by the Courier-Journal and WDRB+WAVE, rather than from an independent review of the music.
Why the story resonated with Parton
Richardson’s novel follows a fictional Pack Horse Librarian who travels through eastern Kentucky delivering books to isolated families, according to the Courier-Journal. Parton had publicly identified the book as one she had read and later included it among the books on her nightstand in 2022. The Frazier Kentucky History Museum also noted that People Magazine featured Parton calling it “the book I devoured” in 2021, as reported in the museum’s newsletter.
Richardson said Parton recognized elements of her own background in the novel. Parton grew up in rural East Tennessee, while Richardson is a Kentucky author, and Richardson attributed the singer’s response to their connection to rural people and experiences depicted in the book, according to the Courier-Journal.
A shared connection to literacy
The album also links Richardson’s literary work with Parton’s long-running literacy efforts. Parton created the Imagination Library in 1995 in honor of her father, Robert Lee Parton, who could not read or write. By 2026, the program had distributed more than 300 million books to children under age five in five countries, including more than 40 million in 2025, according to HOLA. After Parton’s death, her family asked that donations be directed to the Imagination Library instead of flowers, the Courier-Journal reported.
Richardson has continued to write about Kentucky literacy. She published The Book Woman’s Daughter in 2022 and released the children’s book My Kentucky Moonlight School in 2026, according to the NKyTribune. For Richardson, the album became another expression of the literary and charitable values she associated with Parton’s work.
