Another historical event that I knew virtually nothing about, until I read this book. I live in a state that borders Oklahoma and never heard a word about The Tulsa Race Massacre. This book made my stomach ache when the reality of 1921 racism in America was so eloquently written about in this book. The author takes us through a painful, necessary story as we become invested in the lives of the sisters, Margaret and Evelyn Justice. I will definitely read more by this author! Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC of #TheFillingStation.

The Filling Station is a powerful story or the strength and resilience of two sisters during the aftermath of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. A well written historical fiction book based on real people and events in US history. I really love a good historical fiction read and this one delivers. Though the horrors that the characters experience is difficult, the power of their sisterhood was beautiful. It is an engaging story and recommend especially for fellow readers who also love historical fiction and a well written story

This is my second book by Vanessa Miller, both were her historical fiction books, and amazing isn't a good enough term. Somehow Vanessa manages to take some of the darkest stories of the Black American people and while she doesn't shy away of the horror of the history the stories are shared in a way that doesn't traumatize. Readers will truly feel the wonder, resilience, and community of people. The character were flawed (frustratingly so in the best way), the often unknown historical context and documents were eye opening, and I can't imagine anyone reading this book not loving it!

An amazing read.

This historical fiction based on the The Tulsa Race Massacre was written so beautifully. Miller captured the essence of the town with well developed characters and vivid imagery that allows the reader to feel the devastation, despair, and determination of the people of Greenwood. I loved the different perspectives of the two sisters Margaret and Evelyn and the way they processed their trauma. Miller's research brought this much needed story to be told to life. You go through so many emotions reading this story; anger, sorrow, disappointment, grief, hope, pride, gratitude and love. If you love HF, especially based on real events, this is a must read! Thank you @authorvanessamiller for giving us this book and for giving the people of Greenwood a voice.
Thank you @netgalley for this earc and a chance to read and review.

The night before Evelyn Justice is supposed to graduate from high school, her world turns upside down. Instead of celebrating her achievement with family and friends, she and her sister Margaret end up fleeing their home in the prosperous Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Vanessa Miller’s historical novel The Filling Station begins with a glimpse into the horrific events of 1921’s Tulsa Race Massacre. The story continues to tell the very different reactions to the evening’s unspeakable occurrences, from the points of view of both sisters. It includes romance, family stories, social and political upheaval, and friendship.

The setting for most of the novel is not actually Greenwood but instead the Threatt family’s filling station, which becomes a safe haven for these sisters, as well as others needing groceries, gasoline, or some hope along the highway in Jim Crow America.This setting and the family who owned it provided inspiration for the true parts of this fictional tale. Most chapters of The Filling Station begin with a related quote from the Red Cross relief report, which I found to be interesting.

A very sad story, this novel also provides some hope and healing as the sisters and their beloved neighbors rise from the destruction to rebuild their community. Overall, I found parts of the narrative a bit repetitive and the pacing of the story to be uneven. Much of the story was predictable, but it still provides good narrative insight into an often-overlooked part of American history.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I received a free copy of the book from NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction.

I had this added to my TBR pile when I saw a blurb about it but didn’t realize it was Christian Fiction until I was actually reading the book. This is important for a few reasons - the book lacks the refinement of a good copy editor and there’s a lot of faith messages in the book as one would expect knowing it was published by a Christian publishing company.

The story is complicated to review as some of the content was very well done and told an accurate portrayal of the Tulsa Race Massacre but the bulk of the book is an absolute mess.

I had expected the story to deal with the filling station and community involvement more than just following two characters. The massacre happens 30 pages of so in and the remaining 300+ pages are about the recovery and rebuilding of Greenwood. And the problem is the rebuilding is non-existent in the story telling it all happens in passing. Margret had a small role in Greenwood at first but then the actually community involvement and growth and healing of the people together never happens on the pages.

Instead the book focuses on the two impossible to like sisters. Margret acts like she’s 12 and Evie acts like she’s 14. They start off being super wholesome and then it turns into chaos with the sister have the worst personalities. They are mean and rude and erratic. They are inconsistently written you never know which sister was gonna erupt and which sister was gonna be the nice one or the rude one.

Evie clearly is meant to have PTSD but this may not have been researched by the author the glimpses of her spiraling are random and her actions and consequences are baffling. Major life changes are just barely mentioned and forgotten and it’s almost flippant about it. This was unsettling especially with very serious topics not carefully written.

Elijah was one of my fav characters until he becomes oddly controlling and it was hard to stomach his sudden change. And then the timeline jumped ahead years never explaining it.

I wish it had more uplifting feminist viewpoints and especially black feminist view points but this are few and far between and overwhelmingly negative social expectations of women who just blindly accept their station in life.

You’d want the women to have passion and moxie but it’s all downtrodden and anger til magically everything is now okay and faith is restored in the matter of minutes after YEARS of hate in their hearts. I didn’t mind the Christian viewpoint or the writing I honestly expected more of it and for the message to be uplifting throughout the entire book instead of focusing on the end as a conclusion to the story.

It’s got a bit of the high drama, bad writing that doesn’t feel authentic. The writing style is not the most professional nor does it have a strong plot - it feel like it lacked storyboarding that would have help drive the narrative in a concise way. The story is bloated with a lot of unnecessary fluff and some plot points are forgotten / unresolved. And important historical events are mentioned passively.

Overall I wish I stuck to real non-fiction to get a picture of the strength the community used to rebuild and move forward as this book omitted that entire viewpoint.
Poorly written MCs and a bloated narrative makes this a hard read along with the book feeling unrefined and polished.

“No one paid the price for the evil done to Black bodies”

It's hard to fathom the immense pain and devastation that struck Greenwood, Oklahoma, on the early morning of June 1, 1921. For Margaret and Evelyn Justice, this tragic moment would forever alter the course of their lives in ways they could never have anticipated. The weight of such an experience is something no one should have to bear.

This is my second book by Vanessa Miller, and while I enjoyed both, this one is my favorite. She does an exceptional job of creating an environment in which you feel like a part of the story. It evoked a wide range of emotions in me, from anger to sadness, and I found myself teary-eyed at several points. This book tells not only a story of trauma but also showcases the resilience of the people of Greenwood. Kudos to Ms. Miller! This book is a masterpiece!

This book had me all over the place in my feelings. However, I loved it. The author’s description of the Greenwood massacre events made me feel the pain and horror that some experienced. Which fueled my happiness when times would become better. Truly a great story of never giving up even when the world has put so many obstacles in your way.

Thank you so much to Thomas Nelson Publishing and Zondervan Fiction Audio for allowing me to read and review the e-arc and audio book copy. All thoughts are my own.

Fantastic. Five stars! A truly unforgettable story. This book was absolutely phenomenal. It was very evident the amount of research that went into telling this story. Also, the fact that the story truly starts out right in the midst of the Tulsa Massacre and then addresses so many post event hardships that I hadn’t known nor even considered?? Was heart shattering. I cried, I cried, and I cried a bit more. This book was a one-of-a-kind reading experience, my goodness did this story need to be told. Thank you Vanessa Miller for doing this work and providing such a masterpiece in historical fiction.

Oh, my goodness! This book was phenomenal, after meeting Vanessa and attending her book tour I couldn't help but to reread this book again! The characters, the storyline, the entire book was EVERYTHING! I absolutely love Historical Fiction and the way the characters were developed!

This story is about what sisters experienced and went through, during the attack in the Greenwood District and how it affected them physically, emotionally, financially, and psychologically.

It showed resilience, strength, and courage to keep pressing forward, this story is also in the setting of the Jim Crow Era. I appreciate Vanessa for telling this story and for sharing this story of how the survivors were willing to push past the hurt and rebuild again!

Thank you Netgalley for the copy of this beautiful story in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you NetGalley, Thomas Nelson and Zondervan Fiction Audio for this ARC.

The story of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre was new to me but not surprising at all. Margaret and Evelyn Justice grew up in Greenwood during Jim Crow America in an area known as Black Wallstreet.

Tragedy and events so horrifying chase them away one night and their life changes forever. This is an important book for so many reasons about love, hate, and facing an evil that has never truly died. While hard to consume I enjoyed this book because there is still good in the midst of evil and evil does not always win.

If you love historical fiction, this is the book for you.

Wow, this book really got to me. The Filling Station tells the powerful story of two sisters, Margaret and Evelyn, who have to rebuild their lives after the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. They had it all growing up in Greenwood, a thriving Black community full of hope and success. But when tragedy hits, they lose everything, except each other.

Their journey down Route 66 and their time at the Threatt Filling Station was emotional, heartbreaking, and healing. I loved how the story mixed history, family, love, and faith all in one. Even when it seemed like God had gone silent, there was still hope and strength to be found.

Thank you, Vanessa Miller, for this moving and inspiring story. It filled me up in every way, just like the title says.

In the early 20th century, the Greenwood district of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was home to numerous Black-owned businesses and a thriving African American community. Then came the devastation beginning on the night of May 31, 1921, when white supremacist mobs – including local law enforcement – rampaged and burned the entire neighborhood and killed dozens of residents. In a novel evoking both the worst and most generous impulses of human nature, Vanessa Miller shines a light on the aftermath of the Tulsa Race Massacre, laying bare the survivors’ long, hard-fought road to regain strength and faith.

Margaret and Evelyn Justice, daughters of a prosperous grocery store owner, are young women with dreams; Margaret plans to start teaching high school history, while Evie, a talented eighteen-year-old seamstress, wants to become a clothing designer. Left homeless after the fires, their beloved father missing, the sisters start walking out of town and land at the Threatt Filling Station (a real place on Route 66), which their Daddy had recognized as a safe haven for Black travelers. The proprietors, Mr. Allen and Mrs. Alberta Threatt, take in Margaret and Evie. The sisters have always been close, but their lives soon begin diverging. Margaret determines to see Greenwood rise again, wanting to rebuild as soon as possible, while Evie feels too scared to ever return.

The roadblocks they encounter (insurance denials are just the beginning) are infuriating, though Margaret is bolstered by the support of the Threatts and a caring farmer, Elijah, who has great faith in God. Through Miller’s skillful writing, we see the filling station not only as a notable landmark, one deserving of all Americans’ attention, but as a superb metaphor for the people and places that replenish the spirit, if we have the courage to let them in. Definitely recommended.

Title: The Filling Station
By: Vanessa Miller
Pub. Day: March 11, 2025

Genre:
Fiction, Historical, African American, Race,
With a dash of Christianity!

Trigger Warnings:
Racism, Violence, Loss, Persecution,

Memorable Quotes:
“Why do they hate us? What have we ever done to them?

Summary/Review:
Evelyn and Margaret are two sisters growing up in Oklahoma in the 1920’s. On one particular evening, the sisters' lives are stuck with tragedy and as the aftermath of chaos ensues the sisters journey to “The Filling Station” for safety and security, until the past haunts Evelyn and Margaret and quickly resurfaces.

This is my first novel by Vanessa Miller and I can’t wait to read her other books. Miller takes the reader on a journey back into an era marked by cruelty and suffering. A harrowingly dark time period of injustice and hatred. Some of the characters were real individuals who truly suffered first hand effects of these injustices. The author delivers a powerful and emotionally raw story that can be tough to take in at times causing me to take this novel in doses. I started the novel on my kindle, however, was given the audio and quickly began alternating between the two versions. The audio was very well done, the narrator brought the story to life, using versions of her voice and tone to create additional elements of the narrative. I highly recommend this novel! It’s written like none other. .

Thank you to Vanessa Millerl, Thomas Nelson Fiction and NetGalley for the opportunity of an Advanced Readers Copy. I am voluntarily leaving my review.

#TheFillingStation
#VanessaMiller
#reluctantreaderreads
#advancedreadercopies
#ThomasNelsonFiction
#NetGalley

This history cannot be erased. A historical fiction book about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre that destroyed what was called Black Wall Street.


Follow two sisters' journey of survival and recovery from one of the worst events in American history. Margaret and Evelyn Justice, who grew up in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, flee to the Threatt family filing station after the massacre. There, they try to rebuild and cope with the aftermath of the tragedy. And each sister copes in their own way. This story is raw in that many of the themes still exist today. That is the killing of Black joy and excellence. The sister's psychological trauma is well expressed and portrayed in this book. I felt for each sister and their differing views on what to do to recover.
I asked the same questions Margaret asked, and ask those same questions in light of what is happening in this country today.
Once again, this author has shown the depth of her research into these events. Her research skills are to be praised! I love the added historical facts at the beginning of some chapters, as heartbreaking as they were. A mix of romance and showing of black love help to balance out the traumatic events in the book.
If you are a fan of historical fiction, this is a must-read!
Rounded up from 4.5 Stars

The Filling Station by Vanessa Miller
I learned so much about a tragedy that I had never known about.
In a repulsive time of American History there were few options for Black Americans to get things like fuel for cars or rest during a long drive along Route 66. So much more than a place to buy gas, the Threatt Filling Station was a place to fill up more than an automobile. It was a place to refuel your souls and your spirits. For two sisters, it was a life line during their escape from the tragic 1921 Tulse Race Masacre.
The two sisters struggle with love, loss, racism, and surviving the time they are living in. They face the pain of returning to Greenwood as it is being rebuilt in hopes that the hope they bring will be a catalyst to change things and present solidarity in their community going forward.
This was a heart-wrenching story, so well written, exploring an important event that should never be forgotten. I loved it! The characters were well developed and the story was so well organized and it was excellent!
I would like to Thank NetGalley for the opportunity to review an ARC of both the e-book and the audiobook.
The audio narration was phenomenal and the voice given to the characters brought them to life. It was a pleasure to listen and read this awesome story and I really appreciate the author bringing this piece of history to the present in such a well written novel! 4.5/5⭐

This moving historical novel offers a heartfelt, faith-filled story of resilience in the face of one of the darkest chapters in American history. Centered around sisters Margaret and Evelyn Justice, the book paints a vivid portrait of life in Tulsa’s Greenwood District—Black Wall Street—before and after the devastating 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

Margaret and Evelyn are relatable and richly drawn characters. Margaret, grounded and hopeful, dreams of teaching and family, while Evelyn, ambitious and stylish, has her heart set on the East Coast and a career in fashion design. Their diverging paths are violently redirected when tragedy strikes, leaving them clinging to each other and the fragments of their former life.

The Threatt Filling Station becomes more than just a stop along Route 66; it symbolizes refuge, healing, and the unexpected power of sanctuary. The scenes here are deeply reflective, as the sisters confront their trauma and wrestle with a shaken faith. The narrative doesn’t shy away from the emotional and spiritual weight of such immense loss, but it also highlights the strength of Black womanhood and the beauty of sisterhood in survival.

What makes this novel particularly compelling is its balance—historical detail is layered seamlessly into the narrative without feeling heavy-handed, and the prose is tender, sometimes poetic, always sincere. The pacing slows a bit in the middle, especially during the sisters’ internal reckonings, but it picks up again as the story shifts back toward action and purpose.

Ultimately, this is a story of reclamation—not just of place, but of identity, purpose, and faith. The Justice sisters may lose everything, but what they gain in each other and in the spirit of their community is powerful and lasting.

An inspiring and necessary read that honors the past while pointing toward a hopeful, hard-earned future.

4.5 stars

I finished reading The Filling Station a couple of weeks ago but haven’t been able to come up with adequate words to describe how I feel about what I read. It feels wrong on some level to say ‘I enjoyed it’ because the not-so-distant history it recounts was deeply sobering. It feels incomplete to say ‘it moved me’ and disingenuous to say ‘it opened my eyes’… for the same reason. But the truth is that I DID enjoy it – the story is well-written and engaging, the characters are layered, and the exploration of home and faith is thoughtfully done. And it DID move me and open my eyes by putting me in the shoes of people who lived through this horrible massacre. And yes, the historical event around which it revolves is appalling and wicked and grievous and please, Lord, let it never happen again. But Hope is always there if you know where to look, and as such I was inspired and uplifted by the resiliency of the survivors who were determined to not let those responsible for the Tulsa Race Massacre get the final word.

Margaret and Evelyn Justice are vibrant young ladies who live in Tulsa’s prosperous Greenwood District (also known as Black Wall Street) with their father. These very different sisters do share at least one thing in common – they both have big dreams for the future. My heart broke for them as those dreams shattered overnight, as they instead literally ran for their lives amid the sea of chaos and horrified disbelief of their home burning, their father missing, and evil raging around them for no reason other than that they were Black. The author’s vivid writing really put me in those scenes, feeling the fear and confusion and grief on their behalf and on behalf of the people who really lived it. Because, through the snippets she includes at the beginning of each chapter, Miller also exposes us to accounts from real-life survivors whose lives were irrevocably altered by those two days of terror in 1921. Reading these testimonies made me want to spend some time studying more about the Tulsa Race Massacre after I finished the novel, and I applaud the author for writing a story which compels us to continue learning from the history it recounts in hopes of making sure it never repeats itself.

The Filling Station also emphasized to me anew the importance of being available as the hands and feet of Jesus at a moment’s notice, irrespective of any inconvenience or danger it may pose for you. God bless people like the Threatts who were already known as a safe haven and were able to offer the sisters protection and a temporary home (because sadly – which is too mild a word – Black people couldn’t trust just any house or business to provide aid, even during such a depraved attack). This is when glimmers of hope began to shine through the darkness of hate, and it provided readers a breath of relief even as it did the same for the characters. Peace is understandably a little harder to come by, and the sisters each had very different ways of searching for it, adding further layers to their plot arcs and to the story itself. The author’s exploration of trauma and shaken faith – and how we all react individually based on our personalities and experiences – really resonated with me, and I appreciated her particular approach here.

Bottom Line: One of the reasons I love story is how it helps me see life from someone else’s perspective, how it enables me to walk a mile alongside people whose experiences or culture or history is different from mine, and how, in so doing, it also teaches me lessons that forever mark my heart. The Filling Station by Vanessa Miller expanded my awareness of the Tulsa Race Massacre by letting me see it through the eyes of those who survived it, not only in the fictional characters she created for this novel but in the real-life testimonies she included too. It’s an emotional story and a tough one to read sometimes, but there are many lessons to take away from its telling for those whose hearts are willing to listen. Hate is exposed on these pages, yes, but so is hope, and so is the kind of Love that makes hope possible. The Filling Station should be on everyone’s must-read list.

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)

The Filling Station by Vanessa Miller is a historical fiction novel that explores the tragedy and aftermath of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. It is a story of resilience and faith and Ms. Miller did a vast amount of research to tell the story of a time in history that has only had mass media exposure in recent years. The novel spans the time immediately preceding the massacre and the years following as the residents work to rebuild Greenwood. Sisters, Margaret and Evelyn, struggle to rebuild and move forward after losing their father the night of the massacre. Eventually, they make a tumultuous peace within themselves and go on to live lives clouded by tragedy; but, hopeful of a future. The novel also focuses on the Threatt Filling Station which was a haven of refuge for Black travelers along Route 66. This book is emotional and heartbreaking with a glimmer of faith that continues to shine even on the darkest days. Thank you to #NetGalley and Thomas Nelson Publishers for an advance copy of this book.

Once again, Vanessa Miller sheds light on another story every American should know. In The Filling Station, Miller goes beyond telling the story of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. She digs deeper and takes us to Threatt Filling Station, Black-owned gas station right outside of Tulsa, where victims find a safe space to process the devastation they experienced rebuild their lives. A great blend of history and fiction.