Book Summary

In Bus Stop, Ruby Fay Burford, a Black domestic worker employed in the homes of wealthy white Texas families, shares her amazing life story. She vividly recounts her early family life as an African American woman growing up in rural East Texas, one of the more staunchly segregated areas of the US. She begins her story with the accidental meeting at a bus stop of the man she would marry, Frank Burford. She knew from that day that he was going to be her husband—her life partner in everything.

They soon fell in love and were married five months later in Dallas, where he had moved for his work. Ruby tells the story of their joy-filled lives together, of their lives as domestic workers in the homes of some of Dallas’s most wealthy families beginning in the 1940s. Throughout the entire story, their love shines through—for their two sons, for their families, and for their friends. Ruby also recounts the struggles, agonies, joys, and everyday miracles that tested and ultimately enriched her.

With her positive outlook, strong work ethic, and the warmth of her beloved husband, Ruby Fay Burford was able to live the life she had dreamed of, with a home and loving friends.