Thomas Nelson, 2025
Hardcover: $27.94, Paperback: $15.19
Genre: Historical fiction
Reviewed by Monique Jones
Two sisters’ lives are changed forever during the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in Vanessa Miller’s The Filling Station.
The main characters, Margaret and Evelyn Justice, sisters and daughters to an influential man in Greenwood, Tulsa’s prosperous Black district, have their lives torn apart once the massacre breaks out, leaving them without a home and in search of their father. They find solace and refuge at the Threatt Filling Station, located just outside of their community. However, the sisters feel called to return home to salvage what they can, rebuild, and, as their name suggests, seek justice for the wrongdoing inflicted upon their town.
The Tulsa Race Massacre was instigated by racist white citizens who unleashed violence on the Greenwood district, also known as Black Wall Street due to its affluence. This once-overlooked part of history has been reintroduced to a new generation of Americans hoping to learn from the story and find ways to repair what has been broken. The Filling Station does its part by allowing readers to feel like they are on the streets with Margaret and Evelyn when the fighting breaks out. It brings a new perspective to the fear and horror Greenwood citizens must have felt as they ran for their lives.
The book exemplifies Black resilience–even as Margaret and Evelyn face the worst moments of their lives, they find the inner strength to persevere. Love is a major aspect of the book since the lessons and values their father taught them help the sisters access their inner emotional reserves. Romantic love is also in the cards for one of the sisters, even as her world crumbles around her.
Equally important as the sisters’ story is the overarching lesson readers of all backgrounds can learn about America’s history. The Filling Station presents the massacre in as real-time as possible, with killings, kidnappings, arson, and other types of violence depicted as the sisters try to flee. Miller portrays white men using racial slurs and threatening bodily harm. Their presence and actions underscore a fact that, incredibly, still gets lost when talking about America’s racism–white America owns the burden of reckoning with the grief, fear, and anger the massacre caused because it was done in their name.
Overall, The Filling Station is an easy read that envelopes you into the world of the Justice sisters as they grapple with their new reality. There are many conversations readers can have about the book, ranging from how to tackle racism and the complications of grief to the nature of life always moving forward, regardless of the circumstances. The Justice sisters find new purpose, love, and a deeper appreciation for family and community. There still might be a lot to repair, but the sisters’ story reveals how even the worst moments can bring out a hidden inner strength.
If you love historical fiction or want to learn from America’s past, The Filling Station will give you as much food for thought as it does love and light in the darkness.
Monique Jones is a journalist and blogger who writes about representation and inclusion issues in entertainment via her site justaddcoloronline.com. She currently serves as news editor for Shadow and Act/Blavity and film critic for Common Sense Media. Her work has been published in Entertainment Weekly, Ebony, and The Birmingham Times, among many others.
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