BOOK DETAILS:

VANESSA MILLER is a USA Today Bestselling author. Her writing has been centered on themes of redemption and books about strong Black women in pivotal moments of history. Vanessa is a bestselling author, playwright, and motivational speaker. She started writing as a child, spending countless hours either reading or writing poetry, short stories, stage plays and novels. Vanessa’s creative endeavors took on new meaning in 1994 when she became a Christian. Since then, her writing has been centered on themes of redemption, often focusing on characters facing multi-dimensional struggles.

The American Queen:

There is only one known queen who truly ruled a kingdom on American soil. Meet the queen of Happy Land.

Based on actual events that occurred between 1865 - 1889. Over the twenty-four years she was enslaved on the Montgomery Plantation, Louella learned to feel one thing: hate. Hate for the man who sold her mother. Hate for the overseer who left her daddy to hang from a noose. Hate so powerful there's no room in her heart for love, not even for the honorable Reverend William, whom she likes and respects enough to marry.

But when William finally listens to Louella's pleas and leads the formerly enslaved people off the plantation, Louella begins to replace her hate with hope. Hope that they will find a place where they can live free from fear.

Soon, William and Louella become the appointed king and queen of their self-proclaimed Kingdom of the Happy Land.

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. 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.

Praise:

“The 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre is, shockingly, little more than a footnote in history . . . Miller’s book, thankfully, reverses that egregious oversight . . . we viscerally learn how this vibrant Black community fought devastation with resilience, faith, and grit.” –Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Miller’s book, The American Queen won the prestigious Christy Award, the Audie Award and was the 2024 American Fiction Award winner for Historical Fiction. The American Queen is a North Carolina Reads pick for 2025. 

Her novel, The Filling Station, has received starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist. It is a Positively Charlotte book club pick and a USA Today Bestseller.