♥ Sandi ❣ 's Reviews > The House of Eve

4 stars Thank you to Book Club Favorites at Simon and Schuster for the free copy for review. This book publishes February 7, 2023

This is the second book by Sadeqa Johnson that I have read and I believe she just keeps getting better and better. Her development of characters is top notched, her knowledge of the material she writes about is well researched and her style of writing and her use of words makes the story unfold easily and urges you to continue to turn pages.

The House of Eve is written in alternating chapters between Ruby, a poor Black girl unwanted by everyone, including her family, and Eleanor, the first Black girl in her family reaching for that college education, and also hindered by her own family. The story takes place in the 1950's against a back drop of racial prejudice as Ruby begins to see a young Jewish boy and Eleanor falls in love with a man well above her own social class.

Both girls end up pregnant - Eleanor marries her 'rich' man - against his families wishes, while the younger Ruby is sent to home for unwed mothers, so as not to ruin her chances for a full ride at a local college. In good time the lives of these two girls will cross. That intersection of lives will bring forth not only sacrifice, but love and understanding.

Four pages of authors notes give a description of why Johnson wrote this book and what it mean to her and her family. For anyone who has had a child, adopted a child, lost a child, or miscarried a child, this book is written for you.