Winfield Library Book Club to Discuss Dust Bowl Classic

WINFIELD — The Winfield Public Library's Bookn' With Friends adult book club will begin the year with a discussion of "Whose Names Are Unknown" by Sanora Babb.

The club will meet to discuss the 2026 Reading Challenge "a classic" selection. The novel was originally written and slated for publication in 1939, but Random House shelved the manuscript when John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath" was published.

Babb's lyrical novel follows a farm family's relentless struggle to survive in both Depression-era Oklahoma and in the California migrant labor camps. The story gathered dust for decades before it was rescued from obscurity by the University of Oklahoma Press.

Babb, a native of Oklahoma and a volunteer with the Farm Security Administration in Depression-era California, brings an insider's knowledge and immediacy to the authentically compelling narrative. "Whose Names Are Unknown" has a 4.1 rating on Goodreads.

The book club meeting is open to anyone on or off Facebook.

The Winfield Public Library is located at 605 College St. For more information, contact the library.