The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion

Fannie Flagg
Aug 29, 2018

Fannie Flagg's The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion CD-Audio read by the author

I really enjoyed listening to Fannie Flagg read. She had the perfect accent to tell this story about the history of some women working during WWII as pilots. I was not aware they even existed. I had never heard about them in any history class that I took.

The book begins with an older southern woman, living in Point Clear, Alabama, named Sookie Poole that finds out by accident that she is adopted. Sookies’ children are grown and married so she has the time to search for her background. As Sookie looks for her birth mother, she discovers the story of a fascinating group of women pilots, forgotten and overlooked by history.

These women did the jobs of the men that were taken away to serve during the WWII yet the women were given no military standing. They filled a position that needed filling and did an excellent job but were discarded when the men came back and wanted their jobs back. They were known later as Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP.) One of those women is Sookie’s mother.

This is a very enjoyable book and a fascinating look into the Women's Airforce Service Pilots, a part of history often overlooked. It's a perfect combination of Fannie Flagg’s familiar charm along with a history lesson.

Reviewed by Library Staff