by Rilla Askew
First published 2001
Althea Whiteside lives in 1920s Oklahoma, married to an oil wildcatter chasing black gold across the prairie. Her world revolves around the dusty boom towns and the constant uncertainty of the oil business. Graceful works as Althea's maid, a black woman navigating the rigid social boundaries of the era. The two women develop a relationship that transcends the expected roles of employer and employee, yet remains constrained by the racial divisions of their time. As 1921 approaches, tensions build in nearby Tulsa between the white and black communities. The oil economy has created new wealth and new resentments. When violence erupts in Tulsa's Greenwood district, both women find themselves swept into events that will test everything they thought they knew about each other and themselves. The riot forces them to confront the complex bonds they have formed and the harsh realities of a society built on racial hierarchy.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, african-american-historical-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Beulah, Greenwood District, Oklahoma, Tulsa
Period: 1920s
352 pages · Hardcover · Viking Adult
Content warnings: racism, violence