Fire in Beulah
by Rilla Askew
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“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 show more 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. show less
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Based on the true events of the race riots of Tulsa in 1920. Gripping, sad, and powerful. Excellent
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Author Information
9+ Works 558 Members
Rilla Askew is the author of "Strange Business," a collection of stories, & the novel "The Mercy Seat," which was nominated for the PEN/Faulkner award & the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Association Award, & was the winner of the Western Heritage Award & the Oklahoma Book Award. (Bowker Author Biography)
Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Fire in Beulah
- Original publication date
- 2001
- Important places
- Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma, USA
- Important events
- Tulsa Race Massacre
- Disambiguation notice
- 2001 edition: Fire in Beulah / Rilla Askew
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Statistics
- Members
- 121
- Popularity
- 268,532
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.72)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 1
