You are not alone in this. My wife was the same way, and I had to explain. I think they assume you'll read the books, but that's not good for those who aren't familiar with the overall story.
They assume too much! I really hate it when RPGs cross into text adventure territory and I oftentimes can't be bothered to read stuff that tend to be either fluff and/or boring lore. I kind of half-expect developers to voice-act or otherwise impress upon the player the importance of paying attention. In short; it would be better if the narrator read out at least vital bits.
I love good voice acting, but only want to enjoy it once. If it's important, it should be part of the narrative and not hidden in a lore book. If I want to read a book, I've got my bookshelves for that. If I want to play a video game, it's because I'd rather be doing that than reading a book. My first playthrough of anything, I'll watch all the dialog, skim all the lore books. After that, spacebar spacebar spacebar. Open the lore books only as long as needed to let the robots know I've "read" them.
Maybe I'm lazily forgiving, but as someone not versed in Forgotten Realms, when SH made her big reveal, I wasn't bothered that I didn't know why she'd assume I'd be upset. It was just a directional indicator - this is a dynamic I need to a little more attentive too. I was really grateful there was an "I'm not fussed" option, because I wasn't, and operating on the assumption that my character had as little knowledge as I did, that felt right.
Yes, 100%, it would be fantastic to get more of the lore as part of the main story, especially something so important. But I didn't feel I was missing anything without it.
