Unspoken: A Dust Novel

by Jann Alexander

“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 ten-year-old Ruby with deadly dust pneumonia and requires a drastic choice —one her mother, Willa Mae, will forever regret.

To survive, Ruby is forced to leave the only place she's ever known. Far from home in Waco, and worried her mother has abandoned her, she's determined to get back.

Even after twelve years, Willa Mae still clings to memories of her daughter. Unable to reunite with Ruby, she's broken by their separation.

Through rollicking adventures and harrowing setbacks, the tenacious Ruby Lee embarks on her perilous quest for home —and faces her one unspoken fear.

Heart-wrenching and inspiring, the tale of Ruby Lee's dogged perseverance and Willa Mae's endless love for her daughter 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.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Book Club, Novels, Womens Fiction, Coming Of Age, Historical, Fiction

367 pages, Paperback

Published July 2, 2025

About the author

Jann Alexander writes characters who face down their fears. Her novels are as true as fiction gets.

Jann Alexander is the author of THE DUST SERIES, including the historical novel, UNSPOKEN, set in the Texas Panhandle during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression eras, and her first book in The Dust Series. Her second novel, VACANCY, the next book in The Dust Series, releases Sept. 24, 2026.

Jann is also a public speaker on Texas history. She writes on all things creative in her blog, Pairings. She's been a central Texas resident since 2004, and is the creator of the Vanishing Austin photography series. As a former art director for DC-area ad agencies, corporations, and magazines, and a painter, photographer, and art gallery owner, creativity is her practice and passion.

Jann's lifelong storytelling habit and her more recent zeal for Texas history merged to become The Dust Series. When she is not reading, writing, or creating, she bikes, hikes, skis, and kayaks. She lives in central Texas with her own personal Texan (and biggest fan), Karl, and their Texas mutt, Ruby.

Jann always brakes for historical markers.

Reviews

[Shirley Chapel]

Unspoken is a story about a family that lived in the Texas Panhandle during The Dirty 30s or The Dust bowl years. Times were hard during that era because of the extreme drought and wind storms that stirred up the dust and buried everything in its path. Often people died because they breathed in too much dust that would cause them to get Dust pneumonia . Farmers crops failed for lack of water.
The story starts in 1935. The main characters are Ruby Lee Becker and her mother Willa Mae. When Ruby almost dies from dust in her lungs her father sends her to live with her Aunt in Waco Texas. When her mother Willa Mae has a nervous breakdown her husband sends her to a mental asylum in Wichita Falls Texas. The years go by and Ruby Lee wants nothing more than to go back home with her family in the Texas Panhandle. Willa Mae only wants to keep her memories alive after being forced to undergo many painful shock treatments. Both wonder why their family never came for them when things got better in the Texas Panhandle. It was as though their family had forgotten they existed.
For the most part I enjoyed this book. When things started to drag in the middle of the book I was quickly drawn back into the story when a surprise happens that got my interest peaked again. I have always enoyed reading historical fiction and WWII fiction. I thought the book was well researched, entertaining, realistic and interesting.
I recommend Unspoken to readers of WWII and Historical Fiction. It is the first book of the Authors Dust series. It is scheduled for release on 7/3/25.
I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed here in this review are solely my own.
#Unspoken #NetGalley

[Christine M in Texas (stamperlady50)]

Unspoken
By: Jann Alexander
Pub date: July 2, 2025
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Tour: Suzy Approved Book

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

An outstanding debut! I love finding books about Texas and this one about the dust bowl is haunting.

Ruby is ten and is finding hard to breathe during a particular bad dust storm, “ Black Sunday” she gets pneumonia. For her survival her family makes a decision to send her away so she can get better. What should be a better move ends up far worse for Ruby.

The mother and daughter bond is forever changed and her mother unable to get back with her daughter ends up in an asylum.

This books talks about Waco which is near me. This novel is moving, gut wrenching and describes the times flawlessly.

[Patty Stephens]

Riveting read!

The stories of Ruby Lee and Willa Mae will grab at your heart from the very start. The author has captured the tragedy of the Dust bowl and Great Depression and gave readers a chance to understand the losses created by war, weather, and where one came from in a very personal way through the lives of these women.

[Patti Devore]

UNSPOKEN by Jann Alexander takes us to the devastation of the Dust Storms and the Great Depression
and how these events affected the lives of a family struggling to survive. It celebrates seemingly small triumphs that build 11 year old Ruby into a resilient young woman.

Ruby Lee and her Mother's stories describe how they survived, while both yearning to be back in their home. Ruby and many other children, whose families could not take care of them, were subjected to horrible treatment at a Home for Homeless Children. The children would dangerously hop on trains to get away. The way this is described makes you feel like you are on the train with them

Ruby's mother Willa Mae was sent to an "insane asylum which is a story in itself.

The vivid descriptions and the interesting, well researched history make the characters
come to life.
Ruby learns what a "family" means.
The triumphs soften the heartaches, and left me wanting to read more. So many thoughts of the characters tied me emotionally to each of them.
Really loved this book!

[Debbie Rozier]

What an immersive historical fiction read!

The author uses lots of accurate historical events of the 1930s and 1940s such as the Dust Bowl, how mental institutions handled patients, and Amelia Earhart’s flight and added some amazing fictional characters to tell the story.

The book is told from 1935-1949 in Texas and in the points of view of mother and daughter, Willa Mae and Ruby.

At 10 years old, Ruby is sent away from home due to her lungs being compromised because of the dust. She winds up in a Children’s Home.

Willa Mae has lost so much. She gets committed to a state mental institution for many years. During her point of view, we learn about her artist past.

The historical perspectives are great, but both of these ladies show great determination which to me is the important part of the read.

[Christy Taylor]

I absolutely loved Unspoken and I’m thrilled that it’s the first in a series. It was both heartbreaking and heartwarming and also really interesting. I’ve lived in Texas most of my adult life and hadn’t previously known about the dusty and dire conditions of certain parts of the state. I had never heard of dust pneumonia which was a thread throughout this book. Ruby Lee is a one of a kind character andI can hardly wait to see how her story continues.

[Cassie’s Reviews]

This book was perfection it covers a time period that I find very interesting but also sad! We meet a family who is struggling living in the panhandle of Texas. It’s the 1930’s and the Dust Bowl is killing the plains during the Great Depression. We me t Ruby Lee Becker whose a Texas farmer’s daughter, she’s only a child. Ruby’s mother Willa Mae suffers a mental breakdown. So. Ruby’s father sends his wife to the insane asylum and then ships Ruby off to live with an aunt in Waco. The years go by and Ruby Lee wants nothing more than to go back home and be with her family. During this time we read about how Willa Mae wants to keep her memories alive even after she’s forced to undergo many painful shock treatments. Mother and daughter are left wondering why no one has come for them even when things in the world have gotten better. We follow both woman through their own personal struggles as the world changes around them and as they both dream of their home and each other.

[Nancy Stancill]

UNSPOKEN

By Jann Alexander

Unspoken is a tender novel about a Texas girl, Ruby Lee, whose travails include Dust Bowl sickness, the scarcities of the Depression and World War II and being surrendered by her family to a sadistically run orphans’ home.
Despite it all, she grows into a capable young woman who becomes an amateur pilot, runs a successful crop-dusting business and with help from displaced Germans, keeps the family farm afloat.
But she yearns for her mother, Willa Mae, whose own complex story is told in alternating chapters. Unbeknownst to Ruby Lee, Willa Mae has been consigned to a state psychiatric hospital by her husband and Ruby Lee’s father. Willa Mae remains trapped there for many years, forced to endure experimental treatments and missing her home and daughter. She narrowly escapes being lobotomized before she is finally sprung from the hospital.
Author Jann Alexander skillfully guides the reader through the 1930s to 1950s in Amarillo and Waco. The hardships of World War II on the home front are especially well told, including the near-death of a friend from an illegal abortion. As the novel ends, with the promise of sequels, Ruby Lee is engaged to a man who appears wrong for her but anticipating a permanent reunion with her mother.
For an unusual Texas tale told with impressive detail and fine writing, I highly recommend Unspoken.
--Nancy Stancill

[Rita]

I was given a free copy of "Unspoken" from LibraryThing and Jann Alexander. This book takes place during the dustbowl era. It describes what a lot of people had to endure during that time. This book is very well written and has a second book that hopefully resolves some storylines from this book. I enjoyed reading and am looking forward to the next book.

[Connie Morgan]

Unspoken by Jann Alexander was a heart-wrenching story of a family destroyed by the
1935 “black blizzard” dust storms in the Texas Panhandle. I had avoided historical fiction for a while, but this book, set near Waco, Texas, drew me in. We had toured this area several times and had learned about the devastation from the great Waco flood, but this book revealed how this area suffered repeated hardships. The story starts when ten-year-old Ruby Lee loses her grandmother and baby sister to dust pneumonia. When Ruby succumbs to the illness, her father sends her away for treatment. Circumstances put Ruby into a children’s home, where she desperately hopes her family will return for her. Ruby’s mother, Willa Mae, suffers such overwhelming grief that her husband sends her to a sanitarium with deplorable methods of treatment. The author structured the story from Ruby Lee and Willa Mae’s points of view, often revealing parallel themes in their chapters. As the story progresses, both suffer in the institutions meant to help them. Over the next 20 years, Ruby strives to redeem herself from sins, not hers to claim. Against all odds, she rebuilds the family’s farm, hoping to reunite the family. There is a cliffhanger at the end of the story. I’ll be ready for when book two comes out, wanting to see what heart-breaking challenges the resilient Ruby Lee will have to face next.

[P.L. Jonas]

A Strong Tale Worthy of Acclaim.

UNSPOKEN is book 1 of the Dust Series about a Texan family. Dust--as in the Dust Bowl period that ran across the plains during the Great Depression of the 1930s. I thought it reminiscent of The Grapes of Wrath, where families escaped the violent dust storms and struggled during the Depression. The difference in Unspoken is the family is dispersed in different directions, seemingly lost to each other.

The main character, eleven-year-old Ruby Lee, sent to Waco to be with family, ends up in the State Home of not-orphans. Her journey is told through her eyes with alternating chapters told by her mother Willa Mae. Her husband committed her to an insane asylum. Unfortunately, in the early to mid-20th century, wives were at the mercy of their husbands. She was suffering a deep depression from the loss of two important people. But no one cared about that. Despite the horrific “treatments” given to the mentally ill in those days, Willa Mae fights to keep her memory through writings and drawings. It's a powerful and emotional part of this book.

The tragedies of Ruby Leea’s young life merge with her determination to return home and reunite her family. Her need for family drives the story through two decades.

[Cam Torrens]

Jann Alexander delivers a heartbreaking tale of struggle from the Dust Bowl to the aftermath of the Second World War in her debut historical fiction novel, Unspoken.

Abandoned and alone, Ruby Lee's resilience shines as she navigates life’s harshest trials—from struggling at the Waco State Home for Dependent and Neglected Children to an equally daunting homecoming—all while haunted by the silence of unspoken family truths. In a dual narrative, Alexander illuminates the barbaric mental health system of the early 20th century through the story of Ruby’s mother, Willa Mae, trapped in an asylum and paralyzed with grief.

Laden with themes of survival, self-worth, and empowerment, Alexander’s first book in the Dust series delivers a lesson in overcoming adversity in the face of personal and environmental catastrophe…and then reaching for the stars!

[Karl Kabler]

When I was young, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens so captured my imagination that I could not wait for English class each day to start so I could read the next chapter. No other book ever really captured my imagination like that book did. Until now. Unspoken by Jann Alexander opens with a visual detailing a part of history that is often not mentioned, taught or thought about anymore but had devasting effects on lives across the Southern Plains: Black Sunday, the most severe dust storm ever reported on April 14, 1935.
Young Ruby Lee, our protagonist, who at only 10 years old suffers through this horrendous event on that fateful day and finds everything she knows turned upside down. And as we follow Ruby Lee, whose life will never be the same, her inner strength and tenacity carries the reader into a world that will pull to your heartstrings. Ruby is thrust into a new life that she must navigate. Friends, teachers, and the most unlikely happenstance of historical events will shape her as she enters young adulthood. The plot moves at a rapid pace and sometimes catches you off-guard. How can one little life be turned so upside down? I found myself reading and reading because simply, the story is so captivating.

[Lisa]

In Jann Alexander’s well-researched novel Unspoken, main character Ruby Lee endures more hardship in her childhood than many face in a lifetime. But stay with it—this is ultimately a story of resilience, hope, and the unbreakable bond between mother and daughter.

Set during the Dust Bowl in the Texas Panhandle, this powerful novel follows Ruby Lee as she confronts abandonment, illness, poverty, state-run homes, and the harsh realities of the Great Depression. Along the way, she discovers unexpected moments of grace, guardian angels in ordinary people, and the life-changing power of education.

With inspiring cameos from strong women such as Amelia Earhart, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Eleanor Roosevelt, Unspoken is a moving tribute to the enduring strength of the human spirit.

[N.J. Mastro]

Unspoken is a historical fiction novel about the Dust Bowl Days, as told through the incredible tale of Ruby Lee Becker—Texas farmer’s daughter, orphan, and later, female farmer and aviator. This is a well-researched, fast-paced historical novel worth your time. As I understand it, Unspoken is book one in a planned trilogy, a series I look forward to reading. This first installment covers Ruby’s coming of age years, and it’s as much of a firecracker as is Ruby Lee Becker. Filled with vivid imagery brought to life by a colorful cast of characters, everyday people trying to make a living in extraordinarily difficult times, not the least of whom is Ruby herself, Unspoken is a page-turner.

When the story opens, Ruby is ten. After the death of her mother-in-law and her baby Nell, Ruby’s mother suffers a mental breakdown. Ruby’s father sends his wife to an insane asylum and ships Ruby off to live with an aunt in Waco. What follows is a string of happenings largely scripted by actual historical events—drought, the polio epidemic, extreme poverty, and parents putting their kids in orphanages when too poor or too emotionally broken to take care of them. Or dead.

What I enjoyed most about the book was Ruby’s voice. As the story’s primary POV character, her narration is folksy and very much like what I would imagine for a Texas farm kid in the 1930s. She’s bold and unafraid, but still acts like a ten-year-old, which makes her a wholly believable character. In recounting her tale, she displays the innocence of her years, yet sees her situation in a very adult way, as is often the case when a child is robbed of the chance to just be a kid. The second thing I enjoyed were the historical references. If it happened in Texas anywhere near where Ruby was living at the time, Ruby experienced it. In this way, Ruby is a vessel for relaying an important historical period through the acute lens of someone who lived it in real time. Equally fascinating, and at times more so, is the secondary POV character, Ruby’s mother, Willa. Her story is as heart wrenching as Ruby’s.

Yet Unspoken is Ruby’s story within the larger context of life during the Dust Bowl days as she is forced to figure out how to survive in a hostile world. She has her ups and downs. Just as the reader thinks things might work out for Ruby, life chews her up and spits her out again. Ruby, however, always lands on her feet.

By the time the novel ends, Ruby’s in her early twenties and about to marry, but not before having taken readers on her wild journey through life as an orphan desperate to go home. Traveling with her the entire time is her suitcase, a symbol of the hurts she carries and the hopes she refuses to give up. Don't miss this story, especially if you enjoy Americana.

[Joan Donaldson]

Unspoken by Jann Alexander
In Alexander’s debut novel, she twines together the poignant narratives of Willa Mae Becker and her child, Ruby Lee Becker in Hartless, Texas, during the Dust Bowl and Depression years. The story begins as the Becker family grieves the death of Willa Mae’s mother and infant daughter due to “dust pneumonia”. When dust storms rolled across the plains, residents inhaled so many fine particles that clogged their lungs, reducing their breathing. Ruby Lee also suffers from this condition that will haunt her throughout the novel. As Willa Mae grieves her family’s losses, her husband sends ailing Ruby Lee to live with an aunt. Soon, a judge declares that Willa Mae suffers from “dust madness” and commits her to a state mental institution.
Eventually, Ruby Lee lands in Waco’s State Home for Girls and Boys, where destitute parents deposit their children, as they wait for the Depression to end. For the next ten years, Ruby Lee endures the miseries of an institution that abuses children. Through her grit and wits, she runs away, rides the rails with young hobos, and the darkest dust storm almost kills her.
Despite circumstances returning Ruby Lee to the Home, she gains wisdom from each trial. Schooling shows her the power of knowledge and introduces her to the newspaper reports about the amazing Amelia Earhart. When the female pilot disappears, Ruby Lee absorbs another loss that reminds her of the deaths in her family. Yet, the ground-breaking woman inspires Ruby Lee to learn to fly, an activity that provides the freedom she has yearned from her painful childhood.
Because the narratives flow back and forth between mother and child, Willa Mae describes the horrific methods to drive away her madness and restore her sanity. The story reveals how Georgia O’Keeffe nurtured Willa Mae’s artistic talents as she sketches her daughter’s portraits. She finds solace in her art while reminding herself that one day, she will walk away from the institution.
Alexander’s extensive research into the Depression and Dust Bowl years shines in vibrant details, from riding the rails, to the war brides waiting for their husbands, to the internal battles inside Ruby Lee and her mother. While history lessons teach facts, Alexander shapes characters that tell their stories and capture a reader’s heart. From the opening blackness of a blinding dust storm to the satisfaction of watching Ruby Lee nurture and reclaim her family farm, readers will experience the trials and triumphs of women. Unspoken is the first in a series about the Dustbowl and readers can look forward to the other novels continuing the story of Hartless, TX.

[Ralph Ellis]

As I read “Unspoken,” the debut novel by Jann Alexander,, I kept detecting strains of Charles Dickens. Characters appear, disappear, and show up again years later. Their lives are shaped by mega-events, like the Dust Bowl years of the 1930s, the Depression, and World War II. Children are abused by their so-called caregivers. And the lead character in the story, Ruby Lee Becker, is a little Oliver Twist-ish. She starts out naive but learns how to hustle with heart, all in the name of reuniting her dismantled family.

The book opens with a bang. It’s 1935 in the Texas Panhandle. Ruby Lee, then 10, and her family are attending a double funeral, for Ruby Lee’s grandmother and baby sister, when a whopper of a dust storm hits. The Dust Bowl has only been a minor chapter in American history for me, but Alexander makes the violence and trauma of a dust storm palpable. I could almost feel the grit in my teeth as particles of dirt penetrated the cracks in the wall and floor.

Ruby Lee already has “dust pneumonia,” so her father sends her to a state hospital, saying it’s the only way for her to survive. She later ends up at Waco’s State Home for Girls and Boys, where the abandoned children form a makeshift family. Her mother, Willa Mae, loses the will to carry on and is committed to a state mental hospital. She narrates a handful of chapters and tells aboutthe harsh treatments she undergoes, such as cold water immersion and electroshock. Mother and daughter still dream about finding each other, and reveal their hopes in a series of letters. The letters also reveal the secrets they keep, the “unspoken” facts that eventually come to the surface.

Historic figures pop up. On one of her escapes from the children’s home, Ruby Lee meets and befriends Elenaor Roosevelt on a train. Willa Mae reminisces about her days as an art student at a Texas college, where her favorite teacher was Georgia O’Keefe. Ruby Lee is obsessed with Amelia Earhart, who disappeared on a Pacific flight, and later becomes a crop duster.

You can’t help rooting for Ruby Lee. She’s spunky, insightful, and brightens her tale with 1930s aphorisms. A dust storm “was blacker than midnight under an iron skillet.” She’s “hot as a hornet” when angry. “All the whistle went outta him,” she says of a defeated man.

The book ends with a bit of a cliffhanger. To find out what happens next, I’ll be happy to read the next installment in this series.

[Janis Daly]

Set against the grim backdrop of the 1930s Dust Bowl in the Texas Panhandle, Unspoken is an immersive debut from Jann Alexander and her Dust series. Laden with themes of the quiet power of resilience, this novel vividly recreates a time when nature itself seemed intent on breaking the human spirit. We all can recall the hardships and soul-destroying parts of the first chapters of The Grapes of Wrath. Alexander tugs at those same struggles with the introduction of main character Ruby Lee Becker and her mother, Willa Mae.

Told through the alternating points of view of Ruby Lee and Willa Mae, the narrative explores parallels between mother and daughter torn apart by disaster and circumstances which remain unspoken. Ruby’s chapters, in particular, shine with an authentic voice as a coming-of-age story as we watch her mature over the course of a fourteen-year span, 1935—1949. From a Texas farm kid afflicted with dust pneumonia and a stolen childhood to a crop duster aviator and farm owner, Ruby narrates her adventures with the same grit that keeps her standing when life, again and again, tries to knock her down.

I especially enjoyed Alexander’s talent for weaving real history into the fictional lives of her characters is remarkable. Cameos from Eleanor Roosevelt and Georgia O’Keefe are more than clever Easter eggs — they serve as meaningful influences on Ruby and Willa Mae, respectively, providing glimmers of hope and inspiration for women battered by poverty and loss of identity. Through Ruby’s eyes, we witness the everyday realities of the Dust Bowl: black blizzards, failed crops, family lost to the choking black plague of dust, and desperate choices no child should ever face. Meanwhile, Willa Mae’s chapters reveal a mother’s heartbreak and endurance, mirroring her daughter’s struggles in institutions that promise care but often deliver more hardship. A quote from Eleanor Roosevelt is the perfect choice to open the book, “Courage is more exhilarating than fear.”
Alexander’s rich historical detail and strong, clear-eyed characters ensure that Unspoken is more than just a Depression-era tale; it’s a testament to the stubborn hope that keeps people moving forward when the world turns to dust.

It’s a story for anyone who loves American history and the women who endured the tragedies of every-day living, spurred on by an unyielding belief that no matter how far you roam, there’s always a way back home.

[Paulette Mahurin]

Ruby Lee was at a funeral, seeing he first two dead bodies: her baby sister and grandmother. In the church the action begins with such vividness I’m holding my breath, finding it a little harder to inhale, wondering if that’s how Ruby Lee and the rest of her family felt: her mother, father, and two older brothers, Willy & Earl. Wondering if that’s how they all felt in the dust bowl Texas panhandle in 1935. Dust pneumonia, a horrible way to die from air hunger. Asphyxiation caused from living in the water deprived landscape for the past five years, breathing in dust instead of oxygen. Just when I’m wanting to take a break to go outside inhale, the author fixates my attention on the next scene: the black blizzard, and I can’t put the book down. The writing of this scene, vividly descriptive, is horrific, and I feel for those who live through it. Feel for those Alexander brilliantly writes about, and Steinbeck before her. As if the lack of fresh air isn’t bad enough, food is scarce, animals are dying, and money is running out. Rudy’s little body can’t sustain the conditions and she like her grandmother and sister gets the brown pneumonia and lands in a hospital, but she unlike her two relatives, survives. She can’t stay in the conditions, the doctor espouses, so once she’s released she’s immediately driven to the train depot and deposited onto a train, accompanied by her brother Willy. Willy returns. Left with her cousin where the air is clear, she misses her family and blames herself for her baby sister’s death. Tragedy continues with the mother, and I’m heartsick for the whole situation so many were actually faced with. Page after page, I’m reading the captivating scenes that seamlessly burn from the pages, the descriptions authentic bringing alive the characters and storyline. There isn’t a minute I don’t want to know what’s next, I don’t root for something good to happen, not able to foresee where the story is heading, the mark of great writing. Without revealing more of the story, suffice it to say this is one of the better written narratives I’ve read of late, ranking up with some of the greats, as mentioned earlier Steinbeck. He’d have his hats off to the talented Alexander. Highly recommend.

[Book Reviewer]

Jann Alexander’s Unspoken transports readers to the bleak and unrelenting dust storms of the 1930s Texas Panhandle, blending a vivid historical backdrop with heart-wrenching family drama. The novel opens with Ruby Lee, a young girl, grappling with the twin tragedies of her grandmother's and baby sister's deaths. Through her eyes, we witness the despair of her family as they fight for survival in a time and place where hope is as scarce as rain. The story spans Ruby’s journey from her dust-laden home to Waco and beyond, interweaving themes of resilience, sacrifice, and belonging.

Alexander's prose is breathtakingly visceral. Her descriptions of the black blizzards felt suffocating. The moment in the opening chapter where Ruby witnesses birds panicking inside the church while a dust storm barrels toward them was especially haunting. The interplay of nature's fury and human helplessness sets a tone of impending doom that lingers throughout the novel. This strong, sensory writing was a highlight.

The story shines brightest in its quieter, emotional moments. Ruby’s internal struggle after being sent to live with Cousin Bess in Waco adds depth to her character. I felt her rage and heartbreak as she battled feelings of abandonment and alienation. Her mute defiance, coupled with her obsession over colors and rain, was both poignant and relatable. However, some of the flashbacks, particularly those involving her mother’s mental deterioration, left me craving more development to fully understand their fractured bond.

Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Unspoken is its exploration of human resilience. Despite their desperate circumstances, Ruby’s family clings to slivers of hope. Her father’s quiet determination to rebuild their farm and Ruby’s eventual journey toward self-discovery remind us that even in the harshest conditions, life persists.

Unspoken is an evocative story best suited for readers who appreciate historical fiction steeped in grit and emotional intensity. Fans of novels like The Grapes of Wrath or The Nightingale will likely feel at home here. I recommend it for anyone ready to weather an emotional storm in exchange for a beautifully written tale of survival and hope.

[Shirley Kamada]

The Texas Panhandle, 1935. Fierce winds freighted with suffocating dust inundate crops, bury homes and barns, sting eyes, clog noses, and permeate lungs. A storm approaches. Congregants and their pastor hurry home, leaving in the chapel two coffins. Ten-year-old Ruby Lee’s grandmother Alma and baby sister Nell have died, drowned in the ever-present brown dust.

Ruby Lee’s father calls for the family to flee for their car. Her mother, though, is unwilling to go and they are trapped in the church’s foyer, huddled together on the floor.

The family’s property is parched, desiccate, bare of browse for cattle. Their dwelling is “sod-roofed, its wood frame leaning but standing.” Climate and human error have wrought a war, a battle to the death between mortals’ desire to conquer the soil they presume to be their own and their fate which they naively believe is in their control.

Ruby Lee becomes ill, dependent for a time on care in Trinity Hospital. When released, her health improved though her illness persisting, she finds her mother sadly changed.

Her father holds tight to the land, sending Ruby Lee, first to live with a relative, then to the Waco State Home for Dependent and Neglected Children, where she loses contact with her family. Her beloved grandmother and her baby sister are gone, as is the company of her brothers, the guidance of her father, the embrace of her mother, and the only home she's ever known. How was she to endure this onslaught of loss?

Conditions at the Children’s Home are sparse, sometimes brutal. Closeness is forced, friendship fleeting. Ruby Lee attempts to blend in and when that fails, to isolate and then to hide. But resisting most strenuously the loss of agency, her freedom of choice, finally she runs, taking to the rails.

It all comes down to dust. It all comes down to desperation. It all comes down to survival.

This novel is a must-read. Deeply researched, deftly detailed, Jann Alexander’s Unspoken immerses the reader fully in Ruby Lee’s journey as she learns to speak her values, to claim her choices and, ultimately, to breathe.

[Merissa (Archaeolibrarian)]

UNSPOKEN is the first book in the Dust series, and we meet Ruby Lee, Will, Earl, Beck, and Willa Mae for the first time. They live in the Dustbowl and are struggling, not only to succeed with their crops, but to just survive. The story starts with a funeral, to give you some idea of how well they're doing.

The story follows Ruby Lee as she is separated from her family for health reasons, and what happens next in her life. It is told mostly from her perspective, but you also get parts from her mother.

This isn't an easy story to read. It deals with triggering topics, so be careful if you have any. You get inside information (so to speak) on what State Homes for Children were like, as well as asylums. The Second World War is also a part of this story, as it goes from the late 1930s to the early 1950s.

Now, here comes the part that you may not agree with, and is wholly my own opinion. While I enjoyed (if that's the right word) the events of this story, and learning about life in the Dustbowl, even the State Home and the asylum, I didn't particularly enjoy Ruby Lee's character. I know she was a child when it started, but I couldn't understand her mindset or the decisions she made, even when she was older. The same could be said of other characters, too.

The ending came abruptly, with Ruby Lee about to marry someone who is all kinds of wrong, possibly pregnant, and her brother coming home from the war. However, this IS the first book, so I'm sure it will follow on from where this one finishes.

This is a long and slow-paced story that is richly detailed, even if those details aren't 'pretty'. There are an abundance of supporting characters, some of whom you will follow along with, and some who stay at the wayside. I would recommend this story to anyone who likes family sagas, women's fiction, and books full of history.

** Same worded review will appear elsewhere. **

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book; the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jul 11, 2025

[Diane Nagatomo]

“Unspoken” by Jann Alexander is the poignant story of Ruby Lee, set in the Texas Panhandle and spanning the depression years of the dustbowl and up until after World War II. When the story opens, eleven-year-old Ruby has just witnessed the death of her grandmother and baby sister to dust pneumonia. Ruby, who also is affected by that pneumonia, had never witnessed rain before. Life is hard, so hard, on their farm, and their funeral even became interrupted because of yet another dust storm, called the “black blizzard,” blowing through the town. After Ruby is hospitalized for lung treatment, her brother takes her to stay with an aunt in Waco. Ruby doesn’t know how good she has it (because all she really wants is to return to her family, to see her mama again) until the aunt dies and she is sent to an institution for unwanted children. There, no one is to be trusted. She learns that the hard way.

“Unspoken” is not only a story highlighting the importance of family but also that of resilience. I found myself rooting for Ruby Lee all the way. And also, for her mother, Willa, whose struggles are told in a parallel story. Will Ruby and Willa find happiness? Or at the very least, satisfaction with the life they have been compelled to live? Will their tragic pasts determine their futures?

The setting comes alive through Jane Alexander’s masterful telling, and I learned a lot about an era in US history where people suffered a lot, yet against all odds, somehow managed to survive. I learned how vulnerable women and children were (and most likely still are) to a system that can be unkind and unforgiving. I learned there is no outwitting mother nature if she determines to undermine the work of humans. This story had me googling for things I had no knowledge of before such as the Black Blizzard of 1935 and asthma cigarettes (oh my!).

Many thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel. My opinions are my own.

[Suanne]

Unspoken brings to life a resilient eleven-year-old girl, Ruby Lee Becker, whose family and farm are trapped in the double whammy of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. The recurrent dust storms kill her baby sister and grandmother and leave Ruby with weakened lungs. To save Ruby’s life, her father packs her off to Waco, Texas, to live with an aunt. Ruby, though, internalizes the feeling that she’s sent away because she caused the deaths of her baby sister and grandmother. Ruby’s mother, Willa Mae, devastated by the triple loss of two daughters and her own mother, sinks into a devastating depression and is committed to an insane asylum by her husband.
When her aunt dies, Ruby is placed in a state home for children. I particularly enjoyed her unexpected friendship with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. After twenty years of struggling to return home, Ruby becomes a crop duster and rebuilds the family’s farm, hoping to reunite the family.
The story is told in chronological order, with sections separated by year, and from two points of view, Ruby and her mother. Much of the mother’s POV is told through her journaling while at the Wichita Falls State Hospital, where she reflects upon her life as a future artist who studies with Georgia O’Keeffe. Instead, Willa marries a Texas Panhandle farmer. These journal entries are all italicized, and reading that much italicized print was difficult.
Unspoken, book one of the proposed Dust series, ends in a cliffhanger with Ruby about to marry a man who’s really not suited for her and, having rescued her mother from the state hospital, hoping to reunite with her mother once her mind clears from electroshock and other horrific treatments she endured while an inmate.

[Leslie]

Unspoken immerses the reader in the world of the dust bowl in the 1930s. I thought I had a fairly good idea of what farmers suffered in that era, but Alexander makes it come alive, with details much more vivid than my imaginings from seeing a few, iconic photos and reading accounts of the great migration West. The fictional town of Hartless is modeled after real places in the Texas panhandle. The heroine, 10-year-old Ruby Lee, endures “dust pneumonia,” menacing black blizzards of dirt, the death of her grandmother and baby sister, and mysterious disappearance of her mother, blaming herself for many of the family calamities, as children are wont to do. Her father leaves her with a cousin who is more affluent, but dies, so that Ruby is institutionalized in a bleak, Waco orphanage. Never losing her spunk, Ruby manages to find friends and allies, including Eleanor Roosevelt herself. Alexander tells much of the story in Ruby’s unique and unmistakeable voice, but also gives us the point of view of Ruby’s mother, who has been trapped by an institutionalization of her own, reminding us that the miseries of today’s mental health system are nevertheless an improvement over our past one. Ruby Lee’s goal is always to find her family and home again. She grows into a competent woman who reclaims her family’s farm during and after World War II, reunites the remnants of her nuclear family, and becomes an airplane pilot. This novel is definitely an absorbing read. Alexander’s fans will be glad that she plans more stories in her dust bowl series.

[Elaine Schroller]

Brilliant prose plus themes of found family and enduring in spite of nearly unsurmountable odds...

I recently re-watched The Grapes of Wrath. I’ve seen Dorothea Lange’s photographs of migrant workers. I vaguely remember elementary school lessons about the Dust Bowl. But that was the extent of my knowledge of the era before I read Jann Alexander’s Unspoken. Concentrating on two protagonists, Ruby Mae Becker and her mother Willa Mae, Alexander traces the lives of a child abandoned at a state-run institution for children and a wife abandoned at another state-run institution for lunatics by the father and husband who simply couldn’t provide for either and naively imagined he was doing the best he could for them.

Alexander’s descriptions of all-encompassing dust storms and later horrific conditions Ruby Mae and Willa Mae endured are riveting and underpinned by extensive research.

But it’s Alexander’s brilliant prose that brings the characters and settings to life: “All the whistle went outta him.”
“The story...spread like a prairie fire with a tailwind.”
“The boy was devastated, being returned like a mantel clock that ticked too loud.”
“A foundling was left in a wicker basket on the baby cottage’s doorstep, like so many peaches.”
“Nuthin.”

There’s more, so much more, that will leave readers breathless in the reading and unable to stop turning the pages. Highly recommended.

[Susan Ballard (subakkabookstuff)]

This is a powerful and heartwrenching historical novel set in the Texas Panhandle during the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s.

This time was devastating, as the nation had settled into the Great Depression and violent dust storms swept across the panhandle, causing “dust pneumonia” and other deadly ailments. Alexander’s vivid imagery and sometimes shockingly realistic narrative place us alongside these characters on the gritty, dusty Texas landscape.

More than just an atmospheric read, this is an incredibly emotional coming-of-age story. Ruby Lee Becker is only 10 years old when they bury her baby sister and grandmother, both dead from the dust. Then Ruby falls ill. Her family thinks Ruby should be cared for elsewhere with cleaner air; unfortunately, Ruby ends up in a home for neglected children.

We witness the struggles that Ruby faces, the hardships, the cruelties of the state child welfare system, and Ruby's strength to persevere as she grows into a young woman. Interwoven is Ruby’s mother’s story, who was sent to a mental asylum, not able to cope with her grief. Their stories are heartbreaking, but they help us to understand what women and children faced during this time in American history.

The author does a remarkable job capturing this historical period, not only through descriptions and accounts, but by allowing us to experience it through Ruby’s eyes.

Thank you to @suzyapprovedbooktours and @jannalextx for the #gifted ebook.

[Linda C.]

We too can persevere!

This was an excellent tale. Characters were well developed though I’d like to know more about some of them. It was an eye opener as to what families and individuals dealt with in the time period of the Great depression and the dust bowl years in a part of the country I know little about. It conveys how we might persevere despite all of the challenges we may face as individuals. It deals with the vulnerable who surpass their trials by finding themselves. It conveys how “family” is not always by blood and not always by choice. Each of us can find inner strength we never knew we had. As these characters survive, so can we. Persevere. Reach out to others. Form connections. Don’t forget others count on you. The book touches on very hard and very sensitive social issues that indeed remained “unspoken” for years. One can only hope these “unspoken” things have not continued or morphed to things even worse. Thanks to the author for enlightening scenarios sometimes difficult to accept as someone’s reality.

I must say I’m frustrated by the ending but can only presume that it is set to lead into the next episode in this series. I do hope the next book provides more info on several characters so we may know where they are in life now! I do recommend this book. It held my interest throughout, making it difficult to put down when I needed to shift gears. I appreciated this read. Thank you Jann Alexander!

[David Williams]

Reading Unspoken took me back to stories I heard decades ago, sitting in my grandparents’ ranch house in West Texas. People still talked—half a century later—about how bad it had been during the Dust Bowl. The grit that settled into every corner of their lives was more than just dust; it was a shared memory of endurance, faith, and loss. Jann Alexander captures that spirit with remarkable tenderness and authenticity.
Set in the Texas Panhandle in 1935, Unspoken follows young Ruby Lee Becker, a tenacious girl whose life is torn apart by the great dust storms that ravaged the plains. When the infamous “Black Sunday” storm threatens her family’s survival, Ruby and her mother, Willa Mae, are forced into an agonizing separation that shapes both their lives for years to come. Ruby’s journey from devastation toward home and hope is both heart-wrenching and inspiring, a testament to the resilience of those who refused to be broken by the land’s cruelty.
Alexander sees the land as both a harsh adversary and a source of deep belonging. Her characters feel real, their voices drawn from the same dusty wind that once swept across my grandparents’ porch.
Unspoken is a love letter to the stubborn hope that kept so many West Texans going when the world turned brown with dust. If you grew up hearing stories of that time, this novel will feel like coming home. And if you didn’t, it will make you understand what those who lived through it carried in their hearts forever.

[Linda Zagon]

Jann Alexander, the Author of “Unspoken: A Dust Novel” has written a dark, suspenseful, and intriguing Historical Fiction Novel. The author vividly describes the timeline scenery, plot, and complex and dramatic characters. In 1935 in the Texas Panhandle, there were Dust Storms destroying crops, houses, people’s health and lives. Some people were desperate and sent their children to orphanages, and the unable to asylums.

Jann Alexander writes about young Ruby Lee Becker, who gets very sick from the dust storms. After she recovers, she is sent to live with an aunt in Waco, with the promise that she will be brought back home when things are better. Willa Mae, her mother is distraught, and tries to avoid this happening. Willa is quite emotional. After tragedy strikes, Ruby Lee Becker finds herself in an orphanage, and has to learn to survive. Willa Mae, finds herself institutionalized and through her art tries to keep her memories of Ruby Lee Becker and the farm.

I appreciate that the author portrays the women as courageous, and fighting for survival. The author discusses the importance of family, home, friends, love, and hope. Through all the tragedies and horrors that occur the women pray for hope, not wanting to think of the unspoken things. I recommend this edgy, thought-provoking novel for others.