Skip to content

Fire in Beulah
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Fire in Beulah Paperback - 2001

by Rilla Askew

Set during the tense days of the Oklahoma oil rush, Rilla Askew's Fire in Beulah is a mesmerizing story that centers on the complex relationship between Althea Whiteside, an oil wildcatter's high-strung wife, and Graceful, her enigmatic black maid. Their juxtaposing stories-and those of others close to them-unfold against a volatile backdrop of oil-boom opulence, fear, hatred, and lynchings that climax in the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, when whites burned the city's prosperous black community. Askew's award-winning first novel, The Mercy Seat, was praised for its astute depiction of family bonds and the beauty of the American landscape. Now she explores the American race story with the same perception.

"A tinderbox of a novel . . . and one that deftly blends historical fact with fiction." (The Boston Globe)


Summary

Set during the tense days of the Oklahoma oil rush, Rilla Askew's Fire in Beulah is a mesmerizing story that centers on the complex relationship between Althea Whiteside, an oil wildcatter's high-strung wife, and Graceful, her enigmatic black maid. Their juxtaposing stories—and those of others close to them—unfold against a volatile backdrop of oil-boom opulence, fear, hatred, lynchings that climax in the Tulsa Race Riot of 1921, when whites burned the city's properous black community. Askew's award-winning first novel, The Mercy Seat, was praised for its astute diepiction of family bonds and the beauty of American landscape. Now she explores the American race story with the same perception.

From the publisher

Rilla Askew is the author of Strange Business, a collection of stories, and of the novel The Mercy Seat, nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association Award and winner of the Western Heritage Award and the Oklahoma Book Award. She divides her time between the San Bois Mountains of southeastern Oklahoma and upstate New York.

Details

  • Title Fire in Beulah
  • Author Rilla Askew
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition Reissue
  • Pages 384
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Books, New York
  • Date 2001-12-31
  • ISBN 9780142000243 / 0142000248
  • Weight 0.78 lbs (0.35 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.39 x 5.47 x 0.82 in (21.31 x 13.89 x 2.08 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Library of Congress subjects Psychological fiction, Oklahoma - History
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 00043366
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Media reviews

"A haunting, engrossing portrait." The Washington Post

"A tinderbox of a novel."The Boston Globe

"Poignant."The Riverfront Times, St. Louis

About the author

Rilla Askew is the author of Strange Business, a collection of stories, and of the novel The Mercy Seat, nominated for the PEN/Faulkner Award and the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association Award and winner of the Western Heritage Award and the Oklahoma Book Award. Her novel about the Tulsa Race Massacre, Fire in Beulah, received the American Book Award in 2002 and was chosen for Oklahoma's statewide reading program in 2007. Other titles include the novels Harpsong and Kind of Kin and a collection of creative nonfiction, Most American: Notes from a Wounded Place. Askew's essays and short fiction have appeared in AGNI, Tin House, World Literature Today, Nimrod, Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, and elsewhere. In 2009 Askew received the Arts and Letters Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She teaches creative writing at the University of Oklahoma.
Back to Top

More Copies for Sale

Fire in Beulah
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Fire in Beulah

by Askew, Rilla

  • Used
Condition
UsedAcceptable
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780142000243 / 0142000248
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Bensalem, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$9.43
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
UsedAcceptable. Used: Acceptable Condition.
Item Price
NZ$9.43
FREE shipping to USA
Fire in Beulah
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Fire in Beulah

by Askew, Rilla

  • Used
Condition
UsedAcceptable
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780142000243 / 0142000248
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Bensalem, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 3 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$9.43
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
UsedAcceptable. Used: Acceptable Condition.
Item Price
NZ$9.43
FREE shipping to USA
Fire in Beulah
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Fire in Beulah

by Askew, Rilla

  • Used
Condition
UsedAcceptable
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780142000243 / 0142000248
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$9.43
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
UsedAcceptable. Used: Acceptable Condition.
Item Price
NZ$9.43
FREE shipping to USA
Fire in Beulah
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Fire in Beulah

by Askew, Rilla

  • Used
Condition
UsedVeryGood
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780142000243 / 0142000248
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$9.58
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
UsedVeryGood. signs of little wear on the cover.
Item Price
NZ$9.58
FREE shipping to USA
Fire in Beulah
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Fire in Beulah

by Askew, Rilla

  • Used
Condition
UsedVeryGood
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780142000243 / 0142000248
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Bensalem, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$9.58
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
UsedVeryGood. Minor shelf wear
Item Price
NZ$9.58
FREE shipping to USA
Fire in Beulah
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Fire in Beulah

by Askew, Rilla

  • Used
Condition
UsedVeryGood
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780142000243 / 0142000248
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Bensalem, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 3 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$9.58
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
UsedVeryGood. signs of little wear on the cover.
Item Price
NZ$9.58
FREE shipping to USA
Fire in Beulah
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Fire in Beulah

by Askew, Rilla

  • Used
Condition
UsedGood
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780142000243 / 0142000248
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Bensalem, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$9.79
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
UsedGood. Used Good:Minor shelf wear.
Item Price
NZ$9.79
FREE shipping to USA
Fire in Beulah
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Fire in Beulah

by Askew, Rilla

  • Used
Condition
UsedGood
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780142000243 / 0142000248
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Bensalem, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 3 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$9.79
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
UsedGood. Used Good:Minor shelf wear.
Item Price
NZ$9.79
FREE shipping to USA
Fire in Beulah
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Fire in Beulah

by Askew, Rilla

  • Used
Condition
UsedGood
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780142000243 / 0142000248
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$9.79
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
UsedGood. Used Good:Minor shelf wear.
Item Price
NZ$9.79
FREE shipping to USA
Fire in Beulah

Fire in Beulah

by Askew, Rilla

  • Used
  • Acceptable
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Acceptable
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780142000243 / 0142000248
Quantity Available
2
Seller
Seattle, Washington, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
NZ$9.94
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Penguin Books, 2001. Paperback. Acceptable. Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
Item Price
NZ$9.94
FREE shipping to USA