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Sabra Waldfogel
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Hastings Street Blues (Detroit Series Book 2) Kindle Edition

by Sabra Waldfogel (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 out of 5 stars 74 ratings

Detroit, 1943. Hastings Street, music city in Black Detroit. Barbecue to make your mouth water. Blues to make you jump. Anger hot enough to set the city aflame…

That’s where Azulee Smith, star singer at Calvary Baptist, wants to be—not in the church choir, but in the blues bars and clubs on Hastings Street. It’s a dream, but it’s not a living. To feed her family, she decides to go to work in a defense plant, where the money comes with a high emotional price. When she breaks the color line at Detroit Aluminum, she finds herself praying for the Lord to help her make a way on a factory floor that’s as dangerous as Hastings Street.

Viola Allen didn’t decide to integrate a defense plant for the money. She’s come to fight a war—not just the army’s war against Hitler in Europe, but a Black woman’s war against hatred, in the South she fled as much as in Detroit. In the factory, an all-too-familiar hatred is waiting for her… and so is a surprise. When she and Azulee walk into the plant, every white woman walks out—except for one.

Bess Horowitz, the only Jew on the factory floor, knows all about hatred. But she welcomes the new hires into the plant and endures the same treatment they do—slurs and threats. Isolated and lonely, she leans on her best friend in the plant, Theodore Duncan. He’s sympathetic and political—and he’s not Jewish. As they fall in love, Bess discovers that interfaith love is as difficult and elusive as interracial harmony.

Despite their differences, Azulee, Viola and Bess develop a fragile bond. In the summer of 1943, when racial violence sets Hastings Street on fire and tears Detroit apart, can their friendship survive?

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  1. Book 2 of 3
    Detroit Series
  2. Print length
    420 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publication date
    July 12, 2022
  5. File size
    1.2 MB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09XN4VTG5
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 12, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1.2 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 420 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 74 ratings

About the author

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Sabra Waldfogel

Sabra Waldfogel

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Sabra Waldfogel grew up far from the South in Minneapolis. She studied history at Harvard University and received her Ph.D. in American History from the University of Minnesota and since then, has been fascinated by the drama of slavery and freedom in the decades before and after the Civil War.

Her short story "Yemaya" appeared in the Winter 2013 Fiction Issue of Sixfold. Her first novel, Sister of Mine, published by Lake Union, was named the winner of the 2017 Audiobook Publisher's Association Audie Award for fiction. In her free time, not tired of history, she collects antiques and helps her husband sell them.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
74 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Falmouth
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wartime Detroit and women's struggles and successes in society, work, and with each other
    Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2022
    Sabra Waldfogel writes stories about historical events that draw you into the story, while allowing you to learn about times and events that you may not know about American History. This book picks up where the previous book in the series left off.

    Bess is a Jewish woman, working in a wartime plant in Detroit. She has already faced discrimination, based on her heritage. Azulee and Viola were also introduced in the previous book, but in this book, they come to work with Bess in the department of the plant where the cleaning of war time devices heads takes place. Bess offers her solidarity and a tenuous friendship with the women. All three are ostracized, but the union supports them.

    This story is one of individual weaknesses and strengths of each the women, their fears and aspirations, of their wartime union employment, and certainly of society. I grew to care for the characters as I got to know them better.

    I learned so much about the history of wartime Detroit. I was also saddened that the discord and discrimination that these women experienced are still prevalent in our country today.

    I highly recommend this book for readers who are interested in history told through strong characters, their backgrounds, expectations, fears, and hopes.
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  • Anna Taylor Sweringen
    4.0 out of 5 stars For Lovers of You-Are-There Historical Fiction
    Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2022
    Once again Sabra Waldfogel spins a historical tale that puts you right in the thick of things not often lifted up in historical fiction, things like Northern racism. As I did in Motor City, I enjoyed the insights revealed in this tale of women defining their lives for themselves in Detroit amongst the battles for integration, union organizing and racial strife. I hope Azulee, Bess and Viola have another story coming. Hastings Street Blues is must read historical fiction.
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  • Book Bug
    5.0 out of 5 stars Reflections in the Past
    Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2022
    I loved this next installment in this series. You really get to meet the three women that it is written about. You see deeper into their lives and follow their hopes and dreams. Their characters are more fleshed out, showing all their flaws.

    This second book centers on the problems incurred when the aluminum plant hires two black women for the cleaning room. Prejudice from the white employees runs high with threats of wild cat strikes and walk outs.

    Once again Sabra Waldfogel has written a book that reveals the deep divides that occurred during the 40's in Detroit and also world wide and in some ways mirror the divides of today.
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  • D L
    5.0 out of 5 stars Can friendship survive riots?
    Reviewed in the United States on July 27, 2022
    Another great read from Ms. Waldfogel! While there are three main female characters in these books, this book mainly highlights Azulee Smith, a divorced parent of two, trying to make a living and supporting her family. This series is based in Detroit and tells the stories of three women integrating the war workforce with very different backgrounds and reasons for pursuing the work. While this is a series, each individual book stands by itself. I do, however, think the story is much richer if you have read book one. Highly recommend any book by Ms. Waldfogel. They are always a great read.

    I did receive my copy as an advanced reader but my review is completely voluntary.
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  • Dar
    5.0 out of 5 stars WWII era Detroit factories, women and integration
    Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2022
    Courtesy of the author, Sabra Waldfogel, I received an e edition of this historical novel! Learning about the role of women in Detroit factories during WWII, and the efforts to integrate the unions added to my knowledge. The parallel emotions of experiencing European pogroms and racial discrimination in the American South brought the compelling personalities to life. This is a well researched and well written story, enhanced with strong women characters, friendship, and a touch of romance.
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  • Renee Lewis
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Reading
    Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2022
    Viola, Azulee, and Bess are still dealing with hate and abuse of the time. Loved the story, just not the hate.
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