Reviews with content warning for Abortion - A Casa de Eva

Title: The House of Eve
Author: Sadeqa Johnson
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 5.00
Pub Date: February 7, 2023

T H R E E • W O R D S

Redemptive • Haunting • Luminous

📖 S Y N O P S I S

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.

💭 T H O U G H T S

As a lover of historical fiction, it will come as no surprise that The House of Eve was one of my most anticipated 2023 winter releases, so when it was chosen as an Aardvark selection for February, it was an easy choice. I went in without having read the synopsis, and I was blown away by this novel.

The writing provides everything the reader needs to know without being excessively detailed, making this novel highly readable. I honestly could not put it down! Sadeqa Johnson managed to bring the story to life through her memorable characters, and by hooking my attention from the very first page, straight through to the satisfying end. She explores many themes - womanhood and women's rights, motherhood and ambition, poverty and classism, race and colourism, as well as a snippet of wealthy Black history. And she does all of it with great knowledge and care.

Historical fiction is genre I typically gravitate towards because learning about new aspects of the past while reading is something I absolutely love. And this book certainly opened my eyes (and my mind) to an area of Black history I have very seldom encountered in my reading life. Even though it is a more of fiction, it's very important to read the author's note at the end. Sadeqa details her family history and the authenticity of the content.

I must say The House of Eve was the historical fiction novel I needed to get out of a streak of mediocre reads. Ruby and Eleanor, combined with the exploration of the price women pay for love, completely enraptured me, and I know this story will stay with me for a long time. It was a book that reminded me why I love reading so much - to find stories that need telling, to learn and have my perspectives broadened. I've definitely moved Yellow Wife up my priority list, and am already anticipating whatever Sadeqa publishes next.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• fans of dual timeline/dual perspective
• readers looking for women's right historical fiction
• bookclubs

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Knowing about racism and being abused by its wrath were two different things."

"And this trip downtown had shown me that we even had to fight for what should have been free: our dignity."

Content Warnings

carriepond's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

The House of Eve is engrossing historical fiction set in the late 1940s and early 1950s that explores Black womanhood and ambition, motherhood and racism, class, colorism, and so much more. It is told from the perspectives of two Black women. Ruby Pearsall, is a teenager who lives in Philadelphia and is competing in a prestigious academic program for a scholarship that will be her ticket to achieving her dream of being the first in her family to attend college and of becoming an ophthalmologist. Eleanor Quarles, from a working-class family in rural Ohio, is a sophomore at D.C.'s Howard University, studying to become an archivist of Black history. As they pursue their ambitions, they both find themselves in forbidden romances-- Ruby falls for Shimmy, a white Jewish boy and her landlord's son, and Eleanor falls for William Pride, a med student at Howard who comes from one of D.C.'s most elite and wealthiest Black families. When both women become pregnant, they have to decide whether and how they can reconcile their dreams with motherhood.

This book was so captivating. The characters, the setting, and the events of the novel were so layered and authentic, and it was very clear from the beginning how well-researched it is. (Like, even to the smallest details--one example: I had no idea that a common pregnancy test during this time was the "frog test," where a woman's urine was injected into a frog, and if the frog spawned, it confirmed pregnancy). I was immediately invested in both Ruby and Eleanor's stories (especially Ruby, she has my heart), and the way Johnson alternates every other chapter from each of their perspectives kept me turning page after page. This book explores race, gender, and social inequities in compelling and nuanced ways, and you really feel for the women in the novel.

I loved this impeccably researched historical fiction with complex and well-written female leads. Highly recommend to those who enjoy woman's fiction or historical fiction.

Content Warnings

tracikennedy25's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional

4.5

Content Warnings

cozy_pnw_bibliophile's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I was so excited to read The House of Eve after hearing so much about it. I found myself both wanting to devour it and taking it slow to savor every sentence. I found it to be profoundly moving and emotional. Johnston's storytelling and writing are beautiful. I became so attached to Ruby and Eleanor; they are characters that will stay with me.

The House of Eve tells the story of two Black women in 1950s America, Ruby, and Eleanor. Ruby, whose story we experience from a first-person narrative, is a teenage girl growing up in Philadelphia. Born to a teenage mother, Inez, and raised by her grandmother, Ruby is fighting to earn a coveted scholarship and fulfill her dream of going to college and becoming an optometrist. When Inez kicks Ruby out of her house, Ruby finds a home with her aunt and soon meets her aunt's landlord's son, Shimmy, a white Jewish teenager, who she falls in love with even though she is told not to. In between Ruby's chapters, we learn about Eleanor's story, from a third-person narrative. Eleanor, a student at Howard University, comes from a small town in Ohio and has loving parents who had to work and save for years to help pay for her education. Eleanor has a passion for history and works in the library as an archivist. In the library, Eleanor meets a medical student, Howard Pride, who comes from a wealthy Black family. Despite his mother's dislike of Eleanor, the two fall in love, and get married with dreams of growing their family, a dream that is heartbreakingly torn apart and derailed by infertility.

In general, I am a huge fan of historical fiction, and the voices, stories, and themes in The House of Eve are powerful and needed. I highly recommend putting this on your TBR if it's not already.

Content Warnings

drownedinfictionx's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

More...