JannAlexTX writer

Unspoken: A Dust Novel by Jann Alexander

"The novel reminds me, in tone, of Texas classics like The Time it Never Rained and Giant. I loved it. Alexander is a great new talent in the genre of Texana." —W.F. Strong, author, Stories From Texas, and radio commentator for NPR Texas _________________________________ A Farm Devastated. A Dream Destroyed. A Family Scattered. And One Texas Girl Determined to Salvage The Wreckage. Ruby Lee Becker can’t breathe. It’s 1935 in the heart of the Dust Bowl and the Becker family has clung to its Texas Panhandle farm through six years of drought, dying crops, and dust storms. On Black Sunday, the biggest blackest storm of them all threatens young Ruby with deadly dust pneumonia and requires a drastic choice—one her mother, Willa Mae, will forever regret. To survive, Ruby’s forced to leave the only place she’s ever known. Far from home, wondering why she’s been abandoned, she’s determined to get back. Through rollicking adventures and harrowing setbacks, the tenacious Ruby Lee embarks on her perilous quest for home—and faces her one unspoken fear. Even after twelve years, Willa Mae still clings to memories of her daughter. Unable to reunite with Ruby, she’s broken by their separation. UNSPOKEN shines a light on women driven apart by disaster who bravely lean on one another, find comfort in remade families, and redefine what home means.