Join MahoganyBooks for an adventurous afternoon with national bestselling author Vanessa Miller as we celebrate her new historical fiction, The Filling Station! This important story about love, resilience, faith, and grit follows two sisters as they endure the Tulsa Race Massacre and work to rebuild their prosperous home once known as Black Wall Street.
About the book: The Filling Station
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.
About the author: Vanessa Miller is a bestselling, award-winning author and playwright. Her writing has been centered on themes of redemption and books about strong Black women in pivotal moments of history. Several of Vanessa's novels have appeared on bestseller lists. The American Queen won the prestigious Christy Award and was the 2024 American Fiction Award winner for Historical Fiction. The American Queen was also the Woman Evolve Book Club Pick for October 2024; is a North Carolina Reads pick for 2025; and has been featured in GMA, Washington Post, and Essence roundups. Her novel Something Good was the 2022 Best Christian Fiction Award winner at the African American Literary Awards. Vanessa's books have received countless favorable reviews. She lives in North Carolina with her husband and family.
About the moderator: Talia Cadet is a DC-based influencer and host. More than 210K TikTok, Instagram, Substack and YouTube followers love her daily lifestyle, book and travel lists. The Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Rolling Stone love a list too. She's also been profiled in The Death of TikTok? episode of IMPACT, which is now streaming on Hulu.
Event guidelines are subject to change.
6:30 PM - Doors Open | 7 PM Conversation Begins | 8:30 PM End
Non-refundable tickets, however transfers made be made.
Face masks optional throughout event.
Please email us at at least 14 days in advance at events@mahoganybooks.com should you need any accommodations to attend this event
Please note, books not picked up at the event can be retrieved at our National Harbor location for two weeks after event day. Afterwhich, they will be donated to a local organization.
Photographs may be taken during the event WITHOUT FLASH.
Note: By entering the event premises, you waive all rights you may have to any claims for payment or royalties in connection with any photographs or videos taken.
Please tag us and use #mahoganybooks, #blackbooksmatter #pgcmls & #TheFillingStation on social media.
Dial 7-1-1 to place a call through Maryland Relay
Oxon Hill is home of the Sojourner Truth Room and the Speak Your Truth! Oral History Project.
