Author: Sadeqa Johnson
Series: None
Publication Date: February 7, 2023
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 384
Obtained: publisher via Netgalley
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4/5
Bottom Line:
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab
Summary: 1950s Philadelphia: fifteen-year-old Ruby Pearsall is on track to becoming the first in her family to attend college, in spite of having a mother more interested in keeping a man than raising a daughter. But a taboo love affair threatens to pull her back down into the poverty and desperation that has been passed on to her like a birthright. Eleanor Quarles arrives in Washington, DC, with ambition and secrets. When she meets the handsome William Pride at Howard University, they fall madly in love. But William hails from one of DC’s elite wealthy Black families, and his parents don’t let just anyone into their fold. Eleanor hopes that a baby will make her finally feel at home in William’s family and grant her the life she’s been searching for. But having a baby—and fitting in—is easier said than done. With their stories colliding in the most unexpected of ways, Ruby and Eleanor will both make decisions that shape the trajectory of their lives. ~amazon.com
Review: Let me begin by saying that Ms. Johnson's 2021 release The Yellow Wife was one of my favorites and I encourage you to go read it if you haven't. The House of Eve focuses on a different time period but yet still highlights the struggles of black women. Eleanor and Ruby are similar in their backgrounds but very different. Eleanor's parents wanted to afford her a higher education so they sacrificed to send her to Howard. Ruby's home life is anything but ideal and she's often shuffled between homes. It is her Aunt that is the one that truly encourages her to try to make the best of herself by taking advantage of the program she's enrolled in.
Eleanor gets an introduction to black high society while she is at Howard and especially when she begins to date William Pride. Before then she wasn't aware of racism in her own people but now she's too dark to even join the sorority on campus. She is not welcomed by William's inner circle and of course his mother thinks that she's beneath him. It's not easy constantly be in situations where you are ignored because you aren't one of them and it does cause some strife in their relationship at times.
Ruby does her best to keep her head in the books but it's hard when a young man, Shimmy, keeps pursuing her. Despite her aunt's warning about getting involved with him, she finds herself in trouble. She ends up at a home for pregnant, unwed girls in D.C. What Ruby finds in herself is the strength to get through her current circumstances, finish her circumstances and pursue her dreams.
I enjoyed the novel but for me it didn't have the same emotional punch as The Yellow Wife but Ms. Johnson does a great job of telling both stories. What I really enjoyed was her afterword because she gives a lot of history/context on black high society, which is super interesting. I can see why Reese Witherspoon chose this as her February 2023 choice, it lends itself to some great conversations.
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