Quick Take on the Story
Set in Oak Park and Tahoe Park—two historic Sacramento neighborhoods with layered histories of community, displacement, and resilience—”One Thing About Blue” centers on Georgia and her cousin Blue—two women working quietly within a shadowy system of labor and low wages, trauma and reinvention. Their relationship—rooted in shared history and quiet desperation—simmers beneath the surface. The story doesn’t rely on spectacle or overt crime, but rather explores what noir looks like when it’s held in silence and stillness.
This story is part of Sacramento Noir, published by Akashic Books as part of its global Noir Series. From Havana to Los Angeles to Lagos, the series explores how noir emerges from place—and how every city has its own darkness.
What stayed with me most was the emotional restraint Maureen manages to hold throughout. There’s a grief running through the story that’s never overstated, yet deeply felt. I found myself drawn to how the characters carry pain quietly, how their world is shaped more by what’s unspoken than by what’s said. The layers of identity, memory, and survival felt incredibly real—and deeply Sacramento.
It’s a powerful piece about grief, memory, and identity in flux—quiet and restrained but emotionally potent.
Watch the Interview
“Blue was a canyon I fell into just by standing near the edge.” — on writing the emotional pull of Blue, one of the story’s protagonists
In this special feature for our Sacramento Noir Summer series, author Maureen O’Leary joins Cameron of Four Eye Books to talk about survival, silence, and the personal shadows we carry.
Why This Conversation Mattered
Maureen’s story lingers long after reading—not because of what it says out loud, but because of what it withholds. In our conversation, she opens up about writing emotional restraint, building characters shaped by survival, and how often-overlooked neighborhoods in Sacramento helped shape the emotional heart of the narrative. The way she talks about silence as a noir device truly resonated.
This conversation is a quiet reckoning with the ways people carry grief, protect each other, and sometimes vanish into new identities to survive.
Highlights from the Conversation
Here are a few moments that stood out:
- Maureen reflects on how she approached writing grief without tipping into melodrama
- She unpacks the significance of Blue and Georgia’s alternate names—Bea and Geo—and what those shifts reveal about identity and self-protection
- We talk about the blurry line between systems meant to help and those that harm, especially in Sacramento and in under-resourced communities around the world
- Maureen shares her process for building atmosphere—and how setting isn’t just backdrop but emotional scaffolding
- A look at Sacramento’s economic shadows: the unseen or unspoken lines between neighborhoods, histories, and access
Neighborhood History & Context
To appreciate the emotional weight of One Thing About Blue, it helps to understand the neighborhoods where it’s set. Oak Park, Sacramento’s first suburb, has a long and complex history. Once a vibrant hub of Black-owned businesses, arts, and community institutions, it was reshaped by redlining, disinvestment, and waves of gentrification.
Personally, I love Oak Park. One of my favorite spots to read is Old Soul Coffee, a place that embodies the creative pulse and community warmth of the neighborhood. I often stop by Underground Books, a Black-owned bookstore that serves as both cultural hub and literary sanctuary (look for a future post about it!). Local favorites like Fixins Soul Kitchen and Butterscotch Den offer comfort food and neighborhood character, echoing the kind of emotional layers Maureen captures in her story. These places aren’t just places—they’re a living backdrop for the themes of grief, reinvention, and quiet strength in One Thing About Blue. a neighborhood café where I took the photo featured earlier. I often stop by Underground Books, a Black-owned bookstore that will be featured in a future post. The area also has amazing food like Fixins Soul Kitchen and unique local bars like Butterscotch Den. These spaces are part of what makes Oak Park so rich with memory, resistance, and community.
Tahoe Park, where the story also takes place, is a quiet residential neighborhood that often flies under the radar. But its stillness—its emotional geography—makes it a powerful setting for a story about grief, survival, and the quiet ways people care for one another.
By weaving these neighborhoods into her story, Maureen invites readers into real spaces often left out of mainstream literary maps. The emotional resonance of One Thing About Blue lives in both the story and the streets it walks.
Final Reflection
I ended our conversation with a Four Eye Books signature question:
“What do you hope readers carry with them after finishing your story?”
“The beauty of a city and of a person can be in the cracks. That’s where the light comes through.” — Maureen O’Leary
About the Author
Maureen O’Leary is a Sacramento-based author and teacher. Her fiction often explores the emotional landscapes of women’s lives, layered with history, trauma, and transformation. In addition to Sacramento Noir, her work appears in various literary journals. She is the author of several novels, including How to Be Manly, The Arrow, and The Ghost Daughter.
Find her online at maureenolearyauthor.com, through her Linktree, or on Instagram at @maureenow.
Turn the page, take the trip—what new perspective awaits?
