Black Sunday 1945, Guymon, Oklahoma
The calm before the storm. Everyone knows the truth of this...
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I am required to make it clear at the beginning of my reviews that I received this book for free from the author. I have not been paid for doing this and all opinions are my own. I am Bookshop.org affiliated, which means I earn a very small amount of money if you buy from there using my direct link. Although I include purchase links to Amazon, I am not affiliated with them. I include them to make it easy for you to navigate to them if you so wish.
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The Blurb
Oklahoma, 1935. Black Sunday. From the moment a wall of black dust devours the plains and buries her world, Song Holloway’s life is marked by dislocation and loss. Even in the rural New England town she now calls home, that dark cloud continues to follow her.
Then the army asks her to take up work at a classified facility in the muddy outpost of Oak Ridge, a city that doesn’t appear on any map. Trained to test pipes, Song searches for leaks in a system no one will explain. The work is dangerous. People vanish. Yet it’s here, behind the barbed wire and watchtowers, that she finds what the dust storm stole: a place to belong and women who become her second family. And there is Hol—a gentle soldier who gives her, for the first time, peace.
Until she’s summoned. A small room. Two agents. Men with power she will never have. Song is given a command: spy on the women in your life. In a city built on secrets, keeping quiet used to be enough. Now it makes her complicit. But Song’s choices will haunt her long after she learns what flowed through those pipes.
My Review
I was already a fan of Tara Lynn Masih's award-winning books, so when she offered me the opportunity to review her latest book, The Silent Women, I accepted joyfully.
This book made for great reading. The Silent Women is based on the true story of the Manhattan Project's secret women during World War II. Women were recruited to join the war effort in a highly secret project.
When the main character, Song Holloway, is approached and recruited, she accepts with no knowledge of what she will be asked to do. In fact, whilst working on the project, she still has no idea what the assignment actually is or what she is working towards. However, with a proud sense of patriotism, she works away and asks no questions. I can't say too much more without giving it away, but when the reveal comes and we, alongside Song, learn of the project, it is well worth waiting for. US readers may already be familiar with the history surrounding this program but for me I found it informative as I was unaware of the project so came to it with fresh eyes.
With each of the novels that Ms Masih has written, I have sensed a maturity in her writing. She skillfuly brings both her story and characters alive on the page in this novel. I particularly enjoyed reading of the friendships she formed whilst at the classified facility, and how this enabled Song's character development. She was a great character to read of.
It has been well researched, and this really shows in not just the broader time and place but also in the minutiae of Song's life. I was fully invested in reading this novel as it is a compelling and engaging read.
Published just yesterday, the author states that it took her seven years to completely put this together. Personally, I think it was well worth waiting for and I highly recommend it.
Book Details
ISBN: 978 1837005536
Publisher: Storm Publishing
Formats: e-book, audio and paperback
No. of Pages: 392 (paperback)
Purchase Links
About the Author
Tara Lynn Masih grew up on Long Island’s north shore, in the small harbor town of East Northport. A bicultural author, she is the daughter of Lalit K. Masih (the first prominent Indian-American watercolorist) and Sandra Kolyer (who descends from many European ethnicities, including the first White Knight in Ireland).
Much of her writing is set within the framework of nature and place, a result of the years she spent outdoors in the woods, meadows, swamps and on the shores of Long Island Sound. She LOVES history, flowers, anything vintage, the beach, the marshes, chocolate, and family time. She now lives in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
You can also find Tara at:
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(ARC and media courtesy of the author)
(all opinions are my own)
(Bookshop.org affiliated)
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