REBECCA'S REVIEW:
"I choose to believe that God is good. What do you choose to believe?"
Margaret Justice believed no such thing. After she and her younger sister Evelyn survived unspeakable horrors on the night that their prosperous community of Greenwood, Oklahoma had been burned to the ground, countless citizens mowed down by gunfire, and local businesses utterly destroyed . . . while elected officials and law enforcement looked the other way . . . how could anyone declare that God was good? There was no way that Margaret was going to sit back and wait on the Almighty to rebuild what had been reduced to rubble.
What happens next is the most remarkable of stories, told with the actual 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre sewed into its very fiber from beginning to end. Courage, determination, heartache . . . insurmountable obstacles and unbelievable blessings; so many unsung heroes who deserve the microphone and others who are suitably garbed in fictional attire. These are the kinds of stories that need to see the light of day so that they are never repeated, except between the pages of a book; which once read, can never be forgotten.
The overriding question remains . . . do you have a "filling station"?
*I purchased a copy and was under no obligation to provide a positive review.
BackCover Blurb:
A USA TODAY BESTSELLER! · A LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOKS OF 2025 PICK · A BOOKLIST EDITORS' CHOICE PICK FOR 2025 ·
Two sisters. One unassuming haven. Endless opportunities for grace.
Sisters Margaret and Evelyn Justice have grown up in the prosperous Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma--also known as Black Wall Street. In Greenwood, the Justice sisters had it all--movie theaters and entertainment venues, beauty shops and clothing stores, high-profile businesses like law offices, medical clinics, and banks. While Evelyn aspires to head off to the East Coast to study fashion design, recent college grad Margaret plans to settle in Greenwood, teaching at the local high school and eventually raising a family.
Then the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre upends everything they know and brings them unspeakable loss. Left with nothing but each other, the sisters flee along what would eventually become iconic Route 66 and stumble upon the Threatt Filling Station, a safe haven and the only place where they can find a shred of hope in oppressive Jim Crow America. At the filling station, they are able to process their pain, fill up their souls, and find strength as they wrestle with a faith in God that has left them feeling abandoned.
But they eventually realize that they can't hide out at the filling station when Greenwood needs to be rebuilt. The search for their father and their former life may not give them easy answers, but it can propel them--and their community--to a place where their voices are stronger . . . strong enough to build a future that honors the legacy of those who were lost.
The Filling Station weaves together themes of love, hate, hope, trust, and resilience in the face of great turmoil. With every turn of the page, you will be transported into a story about strong Black women in a pivotal moment of history.
Discussion questions are included, so it's perfect for book clubs! Keep your tissues nearby because this one is practically guaranteed to make you feel all the feelings.
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