Fire in Beulah

by Rilla Askew

“A haunting, engrossing portrait of two families – one white, one Black – whose lives are woven together and then shattered” (The Washington Post) by the 1921 Tulsa Race MassacreOil-boom opulence, fear, hate, and lynchings are the backdrop for this riveting novel about one of the worst incidents of violence in American history. Althea Whiteside, an oil-wildcatter’s high-strung white wife, and her enigmatic Black maid, Graceful, share a complex connection during the tense days of the Oklahoma oil rush. Their juxtaposing stories – and those of others close to them – unfold as tensions mount to a violent climax in the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, during which whites burned the city’s prosperous Black neighborhood to the ground. The massacre becomes the crucible that melds and tests each of the character in this masterful exploration of the American race story and the ties that bind us irrevocably to one another.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Book Club, Social Justice, Race, Historical, Read For School

386 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 15, 2001

About the author

Rilla Askew's newest novel, PRIZE FOR THE FIRE, is about the 16th century English martyr Anne Askew. Rilla Askew received a 2009 Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her first novel, THE MERCY SEAT, was nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award, the Dublin IMPAC Prize, was a Boston Globe Notable Book, and received the Oklahoma Book Award and the Western Heritage Award in 1998. Her acclaimed novel about the Tulsa Race Massacre, FIRE IN BEULAH, received the American Book Award and the Myers Book Award from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights. She was a 2004 fellow at Civiella Ranieri in Umbertide, Italy, and in 2008 her novel HARPSONG received the Oklahoma Book Award, the Western Heritage Award, the WILLA Award from Women Writing the West, and the Violet Crown Award from the Writers League of Texas. Askew received the 2011 Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oklahoma Center for the Book. Her novel KIND OF KIN deals with state immigration laws and was a finalist for the Western Spur Award, the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award, and was long-listed for the Dublin IMPAC Prize. Her most recent book is a collection of creative nonfiction MOST AMERICAN: Notes From A Wounded Place. Kirkus Reviews calls Most American "An eloquently thoughtful memoir in essays." In nine linked works of creative nonfiction, Askew spotlights the complex history of her home state. From the Trail of Tears to the Tulsa Race Riot to the Murrah Federal Building bombing, Oklahoma appears as a microcosm of our national saga. Yet no matter our location, Askew argues, we must own the whole truth of our history if the wounds of division that separate us are ever to heal.

"Five generations of Rilla Askew's family have occupied southeastern Oklahoma. Celebrating this birthright, she has concocted of it her own Faulknerian kingdom. Askew is writing a mythic cycle, novels and stories that unsettle our view of the West's settling. In a continuous fictional mural populated with hardscrabble souls - credible, noble and flawed - Askew is completing the uncompleted crossing of the plains. Trusting prose that is disciplined, luxuriant and muscular, she is forging a chronicle as humane as it is elemental."

Allan Gurganus
May 20, 2009
American Academy of Arts and Letters

Reviews

[Mary Haney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a devastating book, hard to read, hard to put down, hard to begin, and it haunts the reader's day, especially the Oklahoma reader with some connection to Eastern Oklahoma and Tulsa. The climactic scenes of Fire in Beulah explode in the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, but the book is less about race and more about kinship, Rilla Askew's recurring theme. The threads of relationship draw two women, one white, one black, more tightly to one another as the events spin out, and each woman grows gentler, wiser, as a dark evil engulfs them.

It is a dark book, but not tragic. It deals with death and hate and prejudice and ugliness, but it is hopeful. It is cautionary, but does not preach. And it is uneven in execution, but tightly crafted. The beginning chapters are long and literary, raw and overly graphic with the theme of blood and birth labored as the first mother labors. The ties of blood flow through the book, but the final image changes to fire. There is one birth too many in the book, as unnecessary as the second mistress in Pasternak's Dr. Zhivago . There is a long section dealing with the brother T.J. who has killed a white man and goes into hiding, but it has little impact on the progression of the plot. He reappears toward the end of the book as an important player with only a nod to how he came to be living openly again. He plays no pivotal role equal to the amount of space given his fugitive beginning. The entire section feels much like the Hermione/Harry trek in the wilderness of J.K.Rowling's final book in the Harry Potter series: Writing in place until inspiration comes.

Do not be put off by the beginning, however. Rilla Askew is a master, a literary writer who immerses her reader in the sounds, smells, sights, and emotions of the world into which she invites. Her characters are flawed and ugly, but they open and grow, and we see in them the kind of dawning illumination we wish for ourselves, that which we want for the human race. It is this growth that makes the book hopeful. In all the horrors of inhumanity, we see that kinship can make humans transcendent and that hate can be subsumed by relationship. Her attention to detail is meticulous, and use of scents, masterful. Her mention of the pomade used so ubiquitously at an earlier time brought back for me a scent I have not experienced since I was a child. She makes the smells of a clean, well-lived in home as familiar as Mother's house, or Grandmother's, and her use of the smell of blood and sour-mash are stomach churning.

Don't miss this book, and don't be daunted by the beginning. It is a must read.

[Samantha Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is hands-down the best book I have ever read. Yes, it is deep and lengthy, but the raw nature, the intensity, the history!!! I heard Askew speak once, and she answered many of the questions that I had held about the book. The amount of research and time that went into this book is obvious (more than 10 years by the way). Needless to say, I would recommend this to everyone.

[Amanda Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I think of the opening setting of Fire in Beulah, I do not get the image of a family like the March family in Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women. Fire in Buelah has quite the opposite environment. The lady of the Whiteside residence, Rachel Whiteside makes the choice of protecting herself inside her upstairs bedroom. Her reasoning of not wanting the wind "suck the life from her unborn child" (3) seems logical enough. For the previous seven days, the south wind has struck the Deep Fork River in September of 1900, the turning of a new era. The wind blowing is not a calming peaceful soft sweet little hummingbirds can flutter to in rhythm. Rather, this sinister child of darkness "cried and fingered at the windows till the sun rose, and then it went on blowing" (3).

In their mother's absence, the older girls, Estalee, Prudence, and Dorcus are the surrogate mothers for their younger sisters, Jody, who is twelve and jealous of Althea Jean, who is eleven; eight year old Winema who is the sweet animal lover and advocate; and baby Kay. The older girls are not the friendliest of mother hens on the Earth, and in fact, they can be viewed as cross and bossy. The older girls are sitting downstairs working on domestic house chores and don’t want to deal with a bawling calf outside of their comfort zones.

The eldest, Estalee, has taken care of the bawling calf “when their father did not come home the first night” (5). After this, Estalee spent hours feeding the cow. On this particular day, the “calf’s bawls came from the corral in a piteous honking wail, the sound so loud it rose above the wind and circled the clapboard house, came in the shut-tight windows” (5). As Althea sits still disobeying Estalee’s command, she reflects on her own sorrow. Each of the sisters have exhausted their responsibilities in feeding the orphaned calf.

Everything about the calf gets under Althea’s skin. At eleven years old, Althea is at an ornery stage of her life where she wants to be noticed by her sisters. Instead, she is upset she is the middle child. This means she receives little attention from her mother and sisters. With the new calf and baby sibling, Althea realizes that she must give up an identity she sees for herself.

In the first chapters of Fire in Beulah, Althea has no individual identity. Living by Deep Fork River, what future will Althea have except to grow up marrying a local man and sewing clothes for her children? Since the large monster in her mother’s stomach turns out to be a boy, Althea wants to spare its life from the beginning. This does not happen as a wise woman of the Creek tribe is present for the birth. As the wind changes outside, so does the atmosphere inside the upstairs bedroom. Rachel and Althea are smeared in blood. The Creek woman makes a point of addressing the fact that there is much blood on the rug by Rachel. At this point, her narration does not go into detail that Althea has dropped Japeth – the brother – on his head but is saved. This information is revealed much later in the novel as the drama unfolds.

Why would Althea not want a boy to be born in the world? In the 1900s, men are not common as, say furniture. Furniture stays, men do not. Father has left on one of his business endeavors. When baby Japeth is born, Rachel sees his black tongue and turns away in disgust. Later, when Graceful refuses to return to Franklin and Althea’s home to work, she does not want Japeth around. In a later narrative, the Creek woman revealed that evil was born in the world. And evil was born in the world through Althea’s brother Japeth and Graceful’s brother TJ. As men, they partake in the worst race riots in Tulsa. Neither one are survivors of the evil force.

The connection Althea feels toward Graceful is of sisterhood. At one point in the book, Althea goes into Graceful’s bedroom and sees the family pictures Father spent with the Whiteside family in Little Africa. Father has brought back nice items for his family. Through Graceful, Althea’s childhood has justice. She gets to imagine her mother taking the time to put her hair in braids, go on Mother-daughter walks, and make memories. As a child, she has an older brother who teaches her strength instead of being a painful spot in her mother’s stomach.

I encourage everyone to read Fire in Beulah. I read Fire in Beulah cover to cover in one night.

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rilla Askew is an extremely talented and visionary writer;she is proud of being an Oklahoman and has set herself the task of telling the myriad stories of her state's origins, in the multiple voices of all its peoples,whites,blacks,Native American,Latino,etalia. As she proved in The Mercy Seat, she knows how to inhabit the dreams and sensibilities of people of color and alternate ethnicity.Her descriptive ability rivals the greatest American authors, so it was with great anticipation that I picked up this novel about the Tulsa Race Riots in the 1920s.The fist chapter, about the grueling, torturous birth of the youngest brother of the main character's family put me directly in mind of the best prose and tension of The Mercy Seat.....and it was all down hill from there.Overwrought,unbelievable,unlikeable characters in a contrived,convoluted, plot that borrowed too heavily from aspects of The Mercy Seat (wise, clarvoiyant native woman;slimey,sociopathic villain;noble but oppressed African American;there's even a cameo of sorts of one of the characters from the first novel).....all of which left me NOT able to suspend disbelief and focus on the true heart-breaking tragedy of the riots themselves,which became a mere violent coda, after suffering thru the soap- opera-like sturm and drang of the main characters for three-quarters of the book.There's a good book in here somewhere struggling to come out but it drowned in the telling.

[Sandie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rilla Askew captures the horrible ignorance and fear of white people regarding race leading up to the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. The story revolves around three women: a wealthy white woman with secrets (Althea Whiteside Dedmeyer), a Black woman who is her domestic servant (Graceful Whiteside), and a Black-Indian woman (Iola Bloodgood Bullet Tiger) who surfaces in three different parts of the story. There are many more characters, but each plays an important part (oh, that awful little brother!) and the author weaves them together so it's not hard to keep them all straight. The foolish and fear-driven notion of white supremacy is on full display in the rough and tumble setting of Oklahoma's oil lust. This book exposes all of it, including the ruthless mistreatment of Indians over their land for oil rights. Iola's internal dialogue on Greed is poetic. Interestingly, the book's typeface changes when her thoughts are shared. The white mob's lynchings and carrying out of their own version of the 'law' was a chilling echo of what recently happened with the attack on the US Capitol (January 6th). It was unnerving to recognize this and to realize that hate is as strong today as it was in Tulsa one hundred years ago. Askew's book is also about family ties, the desolate beauty and violent weather of Oklahoma, and what trauma does to a person's psyche.

[Mary Robideaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am entering this review because of the 100th Anniversary of the massacre. I've been stewing over how I feel about this book since I finished it two weeks ago. It is a historical novel set before and during the Tulsa massacre of 1921. I got to hear a presentation by the author; so I had some insight into what she wanted to accomplish and how. I had read her before and knew her writing can be a challenge for me. And the first 3/4 of the book just didn't capture me. The stories seemed disconnected. The characters were all so very angry. They each had a hidden feeling that they denied but which overwhelmed them at moments during the plot. (this particularly grated on me). And then I got to the last 70 pages and was blown away! It has been quite a while since I have read anything as passionate, devastating, and compulsive as the conclusion of this novel. So I want to tell everyone to persevere and read it, because it all does come together, not successfully in all cases, and it is worth the work you put in to get there.

[Karyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story we should all know, but don't, a tough read, but glad I read it. Set in Oklahoma during the oil rush of the early part of the 1920s, we follow two main characters, Althea, high strung, complex wife of an oil wildcatter, and her maid Graceful. Through these two characters we experience life at this time for whites and blacks, lynchings, greed, hatred, fear, that all lead to the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921. At times really tough to read, but so well written with characters some complex and well developed that your heart can truly empathize with all that is being felt and going on. A story that was buried until the lead up of the 100th Anniversary when journalists started to uncover this ugly story from our past as a nation. Our March Book Club book. Powerful story done by CBS, three years ago: "Tulsa 1921: An American Tragedy" found on youtube.

[shannon]

Everything moves so slowly. I couldn’t get into it.

[Madi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second time I’ve read this book. The writing is beautiful, but sometimes went over my head. It’s a dense read, but gripping in some parts. It’s a lot more graphic than I remember.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rilla Askew is a wonderful and powerful writer, even when building a story around ugly pieces of our history. In this book, she tells of early 20th century Oklahoma, with the boom of the oil industry, and the racial tensions that culminate in the race riots of Tulsa, in 1921. The central figures in this story are Althea Whiteside, seemingly well-to-do wife of an oil speculator, and Graceful, her black maid. Although this book takes place in Oklahoma, the incidents recounted are reminiscent of our shared history, as lynchings and racial violence occurred in many towns and cities all over the country. Although in many ways disturbing, this is a beautifully written book.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This stand alone great book, published in 2001, is a must read for anyone. But it is especially poignant for people who was reared in or are currently living in Oklahoma. This is the story of the relationship between an oil wildcatter's wife, Althea, and her housemaid, Graceful. This 1920's historical novel takes place around northeastern and central Oklahoma leading up to the Tulsa Race Riots of 1921. A truly sad and pathetic story of greed, hate, mistrust, lawlessness and redemption. Stories like this beg the question, "How can human beings treat one another with such atrocity and still consider themselves human?" Further, why is it repeated..........?

[Kirsten Tautfest · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fictional account set in the years & days leading up to the Tulsa Race Riot in 1921. This was my second read through of this book. I have since the first reading of it praised it as an eye opener into the dark oily gritty side of Oklahoma history. However after my second read through the characters to me come off as flat and the POV jumps. There are text type changes which is probably why there is no Kindle version of this book or large print which is a shame for older readers. But even then, I'd like to know who is speaking on a first person shift from a third person omniscent POV.

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fictionalized account of the Tulsa race riots in 1921. While not a genre I'd typically go for, I picked up this book and was immediately hooked. Askew's writing is haunting and mesmerizing; from the first sentence you sense the impending doom.

[Stephanee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this last year for the Oklahoma Centennial. It was a good way to find out some of the history of Tulsa, but at times hard to plow through. Parts of it are intensely boring, however, overall not a bad book if you are into Oklahoma authors and historical fiction.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vivid detail, captivating, horrifying. A necessary exploration of race, sex, history, and violence.

This reviewer said it best.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was very disappointing. I had expected it to be about the Tulsa race riots but it was really about race. I didn't find it to be well written either, it was difficult to read and even understand what was happening in several cases.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

All it was cracked up to be. Had me in the first page and a half! I was kind of tired of historical fiction, I thought. Can't wait to read the rest of her books. Thanks for the referral, Susan!

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

A devastatingly compelling novel that centers on an oilman’s damaged and often spiteful wife, Althea Dedmeyer, and her resilient maid, Graceful Whiteside, in Tulsa in 1920 and 1921, Fire in Beulah does a good job of putting the Tulsa Race Massacre in historical context. Both characters are tied to an actual victim of one of the two lynchings in Oklahoma in the late summer of 1920, which are key to understanding the climate that led to the massacre.

Askew gives Roy Belton - a white man taken by a white mob from the Tulsa County Jail, where he was being held for murder, and lynched while “half of Tulsa” looked on and the police directed traffic - a fictional accomplice: Althea’s brother Japheth, who escapes the same fate through the sociopathic cunning he wields against each of the novel’s main characters as the action unfolds.

Part I briefly relates the story of Japheth’s gruesomely complicated birth, witnessed by Althea and attended by a Muscogee Creek Freedwoman, Iola Bloodgood Tiger. Iola’s first person narration throughout the novel is printed in a different font: she highlights the greed and hatred bubbling up in Tulsa like the oil on her property - oil Althea’s husband Franklin sets out to extract with a paltry $400 payment ($200 up front) to Iola that never arrives.

Askew employs the same distinct-font technique with two unnamed narrators, adding the perspective of a perpetrator of the massacre and, earlier in the novel, a mourner at the memorial service for the black man, Everett Candler (a fictionalized version of Claude Chandler), who was taken from the OKC jail the night after Belton’s murder and lynched “by persons unknown” for allegedly killing two officers investigating him for bootlegging. Candler is connected to Graceful by way of her brother T.J., who escapes the fate of his friend by luck and desperation and is hardened and haunted as a result.

The description of the massacre is as heart- and gut-wrenching as it should be. Though the perpetrators were described as rioters at the time, “race riot” doesn’t convey the sickening reality of the murders and fires and bombs, of white Tulsans lined up at the Frisco tracks “as if for a road race, as if they were chafing at the line before a land run” on the morning of June 1, 1921, waiting for a whistle to signal their renewed attack after withdrawing south overnight, waiting to kill and steal and destroy.

The Dedmeyer’s failure to protect Graceful or even fully empathize with her is an apt depiction of systemic racism in 1921. Althea’s terror is amplified when she realizes that her whiteness will not protect her as she attempts to help Graceful reach her family in Greenwood during the massacre. Franklin wonders why someone doesn’t stop the madness while he hides in a hotel, smoking cigars. Whiteness in “the Magic City” is fragile and ineffective at best - the question is whether it has gotten much better after 99 years: white Tulsans must continue to take ourselves to task on this point.

[Vickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is uncomfortable—yes, that’s a good word. It’s uncomfortable because it climaxes during the Tulsa race massacre of 1921—an anniversary quickly approaching—which reminds today’s reader of one of the great blots on our immoral history. It’s uncomfortable because the racism—overt and masked—still exists today. It’s uncomfortable because her white privilege is even acknowledged by Althea, one of the two main characters, but not set aside. It’s uncomfortable because from the beginning you know how the story will end—in fire and murder and unpunished evil.

The novel is concerned mostly with the racial injustice of the 1920’s. It also captures the economic injustice that prevails, showing how oil barons and wildcatters exploited landowners in order to claim the “black gold” of Oklahoma. There are also themes of family, mental health, and kinship.

The two main characters are nicely done. Althea is an oil wildcatter’s wife; Graceful is her black maid. But the character I enjoyed most was Iola Bloodgood Bullet Tiger, the Black-Creek landowner whose story intertwines with Althea’s and Graceful’s lives. It is Iola Tiger who proclaims, “Evil can’t be destroyed….Evil is spirit force, yes, but it have to manifest in the material world….And we have let it. We have loosed our own destruction. Whose hand set them houses afire? Not God’s hand. God don’t make that gun on the hill to spit and chatter. He haven’t created machines to fly in the air above smoke and drop fire in jars and bottles, to make fire on God’s people, by God’s people, to kill God’s people, Lord, Lord.”

Yes, the story is grim. But Askew captures some glimmers of hope, especially in the hope for a better life through love and family.

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Thank you to the author, Rilla Askew, for sponsoring the giveaway and for writing such a compelling story.

[Andrew McKee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rilla Askew's Fire in Beulah is a very difficult read, but it's worth the effort. Major content warning for excess violence, racial slurs, and depictions of sexual violence.

I went into this book expecting more of a third person account of the historical context for the Tulsa Race Massacre, and was greeted with something extremely different, but not unwelcome. The opening of this book harkens comparisons to Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, but reducing it to its similarities would be a disservice. Rather, what makes this book shine is Askew's commitment to tone and refusal to let the reader look away from the ugly truth. From the first chapter, the reader is thrown into the fray through the graphic description of an injured and infected calf, setting the stage for the horrors the rest of the book has to offer.

That being said, once again I have to say that reducing this book to its most graphic scenes would once again be ignoring the core of this story, the characters. Askew takes us on a journey through the unlikely and complicated relationship between Althea Whiteside, the wife of an oil baron, and Graceful, her black maid. Through them, Askew gives us an amazing idea of the rising tensions leading to the massacre, leading to indescribable scenes that will stick with me for quite some time.

There are problems in this book, such as some drastic pace changes towards the middle chapters and some strange character decisions, but overall to dwell on those for too long would give the wrong impression. This is an amazing work. If you, like myself, are constantly seeking to learn more about the history that high school missed out on, pieces like this are a fantastic way to start. I'm definitely interested in reading Askew's other book, The Mercy Seat, and she will now be on my radar from here on out.

[Marvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is so much better than the other novel by this author that I’ve read, Kind of Kin. The writing is really good if somewhat florid, the narrative is propulsive, and it explores the psychology of the characters effectively. In these and other ways, it strikes me as old-fashioned; for some reason it reminded me of Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes, perhaps because of the foreboding sense of evil hanging over everything (though this lacks the countervailing goodness of that one’s heroes). This is a very visceral evil, not the kind of cartoonish evil characters I complained about in Kind of Kin. It’s definitely not a book to be “enjoyed”--it’s too deeply disturbing for that–but it seems like an important book, one of those that forces us to face one of the many instances–the Tulsa race riot of 1921–that manifest the deep shame, the manifest evil (there’s no other apt word for it) of our treatment of our fellow black citizens. But this goes beyond race relations to address the greed that drove the oil drilling in the region–and the consequences of that. This is particularly effectively told in the striking voice of a freedwoman who’d married Creek men; that voice appears in fairly brief segments scattered just a few times throughout the narrative. Otherwise the narrative is always in third person, though from the perspective of various characters. I did wonder about the frequent use of the n-word and other offensive language. It was always believable, though always shocking, too, in the context, but still . . .

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very intense historical novel set in Tulsa and environs just prior to and including the Tulsa Race Riots/Massacre. Having grown up just 50 miles north of Tulsa without ever having had this mentioned in Oklahoma history classes, it made quite an impact on me. It is told through multiple viewpoints including a white woman married to an oilman, her Black maid, and a mixed race woman who held the mineral rights to an area the oilmen wanted to exploit. The writing, like all of Askew's work is beautifully ornate in many ways and yet very down to earth in others. It's not a comfortable read, but it is very engrossing and kept me reading through the most difficult parts. As a side note, this Kindle edition has some major editing problems. It looks like it might have been digitalized using faulty OCR reading and then never checked by a proof reader. Over and over "thinking" is written as "dunking" (guessing from context), "God" as "Cod", "that" as "mat", etc. Even for a speed reader like me it was very distracting! Still, if you can get by that, it's definitely worth reading if you have any interest in Oklahoma history and/or the history of race relations in the 1920's.

[Jan Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book, although complicated. It tells the story of a black woman and a white woman living in Tulsa in the 20's just before the race riot. Graceful works for Althea as a maid and while Althea often isn't kind to her, she desperately needs Graceful. The story has rich language of the early oilfield and terms I haven't heard in a long time were used to describe drilling new holes looking for oil. Althea comes from poverty, but has hidden that secret well and is now the wife of a wealthy oilman.

The story climaxes during the race riot and it is as horrific as one would imagine. I thought I would never get through that part. This is our next book discussion book for Let's Talk About it, Oklahoma. I can't wait to hear what our scholar's take on some of the symbolism within the story is, and the group's thoughts on various events. I'm glad I read it, although I did have to keep plugging away because it is a very dense story.

[Eric Susak · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the best parts of this book that some historical fiction fails at is bringing in the human element. Much of these massive events in history are theoretical in nature, lacking any exigence for the reader because we are so far removed from that time. But Rilla Askew managed to get me invested in the Tulsa race massacre because I was able to live vicariously through characters that had their lives personally effected. It made me consider the implications of all those daily acts of racism and prejudice that led to such a catastrophe. And one storyline begged the question about trauma's lasting effects on a person and their community.

Some of the language was a bit too embellished for my tastes, which is probably evident in how long it took me to read the book, but the topic is important enough and the characters vivid enough to warrant a read.

[jj Grilliette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have heard about there being a huge race riot in Tulsa since I can remember. I grew up in Bartlesville, OK, just north of Tulsa. Many of the people moved to Bartlesville at that time. The race riot portion of this book is true. I had heard that many of the African Americans were professionals and had their own prosperous neighborhood in north Tulsa. I did not realize how brutal this was. I knew it was bad, but this was worse than I thought. Definitely worth the read. Please keep in mind this is historical fiction, so the characters in the book are not real. However, the riot part was real. The types of things going on with the oil is real. Good book about the rough history of Oklahoma once it became a state.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very intense, detailed, well written American Book Award winner about the oil boom in Oklahoma in 1920 and the Tulsa Race Massacre that occurred on May 31, 1921. The story is told through the eyes of two women, one the rich, insecure manipulative oil baron wife who has a black maid. The reader sees this period of history through the eyes of both and how the cruelty, shame, and violence affects them both. A hard read in both text and subject but very, very well written about a period of history seldom discussed.

[Malena Ponder · Rating 5 out of 5]

One, if not the best, of the best books I have ever read! Never thought much about the Tulsa Race Riots (now called massacre, and with good reason), until I read this book.

Every time I'm in Tulsa, I think about the little yellow house on Elgin. This book brought it to vivid life for me. I look at the area where this took place and can't believe such jealousy, intolerance and cruelty took place in my back yard.

I couldn't put this book down, I wanted to know what happened next.

[Crystal Riley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so hard to follow. The author tells it from different points of view with almost no context as to who is telling the story except for a change in text. The main character is not likable because she’s selfish and unstable. The book is said to be about the Tulsa race riot but it’s over 300 pages and less than 10% talks about the riot. It was very disappointing to read. It could’ve been so much better.

[Kkraemer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This nonfiction fiction tells the story of two women in the times leading up to Tulsa riots and massacre. It tells of oil, of wealth, of legally enforced separation, of anger, of burning, of incarceration, and of the aerial bombing of Greenwood. Given that the Tulsa riots are one of the most appalling stories of our history, and given the recent focus on them, this is a novel to read.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was hard to read but worth it. The stories of Althea, an oil man's wife, Graceful, her black maid and Iola, a freed woman with mineral rights are woven together in a slow burn that leads to a terrible climax. An important book dealing with race in the US and specifically Oklahoma.