Book Review: Unspoken

Unspoken by Jann Alexander is a gut-wrenching historical fiction detailing one young girl's experience during the Dust Bowl in the Texas panhandle. If you are looking for a simple read with no drama, then this is not for you. However, if you want the hard, gritty truth about life during the dustbowl of the 1930s, then run right out and grab your copy.

We see one dozen years of Ruby's life starting at the tender age of 11. She has lost her baby sister and grandmother to dust pneumonia, also known as the brown plague, and almost succumbs herself. That's when her father sends her away to live with a cousin in Waco, and Ruby's entire life unwinds. We also see snippets of her mother's life - a woman confined to a mental institution. And Jann did a remarkable job showing how both those lives intertwined!

I was horrified by conditions at the state welfare home for children as well as the insane asylum. It makes me wonder how anyone could survive either place - and how a child like Ruby Lee figured out not only have to survive but eventually thrive. Although a difficult book to read because of the raw honesty, it was well worth the effort. A definite 5 stars.

Purchase your copy of Unspoken:
Paperback: https://amzn.to/4n2u7p7​
Kindle: https://amzn.to/3FZrhR6

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