I was drawn into this historical fiction immediately and found it impossible to put down. I understand the love for this book.

The dual story lines of two Black women in 1948, and how their lives intersect is engrossing. Eleanor, a student at Howard University, who marries into the ‘elite’ class of Washington DC, is slammed with the realities colorism, classicism, and infertility.

Ruby, a young smart Black girl, growing up poor and alone in Philadelphia, experiences these same harsh realities but in a deeper, more profound way.

Candidly, I enjoyed Ruby more and wanted more of her life. She was tough, full of grit and authenticity, brutal in her pain, heroic in her actions. Eleanor was…fine. She felt a bit underdeveloped for me, like just the surface of her pain was scratched.

And yet, don’t get me wrong - I thoroughly enjoyed this look back at history. It was also a powerful reminder of how essential women’s healthcare is to our psyche, that abortion, birth control, infertility treatments, etc are and should remain each individual woman’s choice, NOT the government’s or the court’s.

Thank you @simonandschuster for the #bookclubfavorites and the free gifts!

I thought Yellow Wife was one of the most phenomenal books I had ever read, and The House of Eve absolutely cleared that very high bar. Sadeqa Johnson is an unparalleled storyteller and I feel so lucky to get to read her novels. Her characters are complex and layered and I love them and they drive me crazy and just when I think I have something figured out, here comes a surprise. This book was not as difficult to read as Yellow Wife as far as content, but it was still an incredibly poignant story and it told stories that have been kept in the dark for far too long. I’m already recommending it to everyone.

My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance reader’s copy.

Very good book about two women from different journies, but in the end their lives converge in a interesting way. They both want the same thing but due to circumstances, they cannot have. Walk with these two women and experience their lives. Does it all was out in the end? R
Sad it and decide for oneself. Good read and holds your interest. I would like to see a second book to find out if and how the new character introduced at the end interacts with the main characters. I recommend this read. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson was a welcoming deep dive into motherhood, classism, agency and womanhood in this country. I was a huge fan of Johnson’s 2021 release, The Yellow Wife, which was an extremely popular book club pick and I have no doubt this one will follow in those same footsteps.

The book speaks to Black women’s resiliency, strengths, insecurities, and the price paid for a proper education. The two MCs are Ruby, a bright, young girl who finds herself in an illicit romance and Eleanor, a poor college student who falls in love with a high-society grad student. I appreciated the Jewish representation from a minor character called Shimmy. He should have his own book!

I was completely invested in both of their stories, but it was Ruby that had me in tears. Her background broke me, and I was so proud of her perseverance. I can assure you that there were a few characters I wanted to slap across the face which was a testament to great storytelling. Even better was the literary Easter egg the author gave us by offering a cameo from Pheby from The Yellow Wife.

I really enjoyed the Washington, D.C. setting as I grew up in a suburb not far away. It was eye opening to see the city portrayed in the early 1950s. There is a lot to unpack in this one and I’m certain that readers will love it!

I can't keep this book on the shelves, a must purchase for most libraries. A very good book to integrate into book club recommendations as well.

This is my first book by this author. I do own a copy of THE YELLOW WIFE and intend to read it when I get a break.

This book is like none I have ever read. It's about two young women, one in high school and one in college, who are both black and both fighting for what they want out of life. To rise above their stations in life. To make something out of their lives. To be proud black women.

Ruby is a high school girl who is working hard to get into college. She's in an advanced program trying to earn a scholarship that will pay her way. She's from a poor family and a mother who was very young when she had Ruby. Her mother is not very kind and seems to love her men more than her own flesh and blood. Ruby wants to be a doctor. One that can maybe help heal her grandmother who has glaucoma and is now blind. Ruby lived with her the first few years of her life. Nene was very good to Ruby. I felt for Ruby. She is a very likable young lady even when you see her making some fairly big mistakes. Like falling in love with a white Jewish boy.

Eleanor is a college woman who is working hard to be an archivist. Her parents worked hard to make sure she could go to college. Especially her mother. They only want the best for her. She studies hard and works two jobs to pay for her education. She works in the library for one job and meets the soon to be Dr, William. William's parents are very rich and his mother does not believe that Eleanor is good enough. She's not of the right class for her son or his family. But William loves her and she loves him.

As this story progresses you get to know each of these young ladies and more characters. Some you'll love and some you will despise. How their lives end up intersecting is sad but beautiful. This book is very well written and told in a beautiful prose. In the language of mainly poor black young ladies. The way they interact with others is enduring. I loved them both. I felt so bad for them both at times also and rooted for them to both do what they had set out to do. To have a better life and make their families proud. I think this was done.

This author is one to look out for. I will definitely be looking for more of her books.

Thank you #NetGalley, #SadeqaJohnson, #Simon&Schuster for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

5 stars and a high recommendation. Have Kleenex handy though, you will need them.

Many thanks to Simon & Schuster, NetGalley, and Sadeqa Johnson for this copy of the book!

This is the 2nd book I’ve read from this author, and I’m so pleased again! I loved her book Yellow Wife, and I loved this book, The House of Eve. Such incredible writing! So many thought-provoking themes permeated this story, such as education, racism, colorism, classism, resiliency, family/generational trauma, and history. I valued the two strong lead black females’ alternating points of view. They (Ruby and Eleanor) were of different ages, backgrounds, and aspirations, but their worlds collided in such a riveting way, relating to their pregnancy and motherhood journeys. I felt black pride reading about two lead female black characters pursuing higher education, mirrored by a few black male characters with strong academic backgrounds and careers. There were different dynamics to the supporting male character in the story. They were diverse across the spectrum, from a cruel man (Leap) to a well-educated black man (William). Mother Margaret, the nun, was also an interesting character. She reminded me of Aunt Lydia from The Handmaid’s Tale and added an element of suspense to the storyline because I didn’t know what she initially meant for the two black female characters. She had a dual role: somewhat of a deliverer for one of the lead female characters and a donor to another. I loved the well-researched historical nature of the story. Lastly, the ending was everything! It made me think up all these scenarios that could happen if the story continued. This book just gave me the warm and fuzzies! I can’t say enough great things about this book. I highly recommend it.

Sadeqa Johnson once again proves she is a master storyteller. This story just moved me so much because of the authenticity in the author’s storytelling. The characters and their journey were so compelling that I couldn’t stop reading their tale until the last page. I had to keep reminding myself that this story was set in the 1950-60’s because it was upsetting to be immersed in the plight of women, especially black women and their lack of options.

The story weaves together the lives of a high school student named Ruby and a college student named Eleanor Quarles. While their family situations differ, both women are set upon a path that differed from their own choosing when their fell in love with a man outside their own circle/social class. The consequences are devastating but they eventually rose above like the Phoenix. The author’s ability to elicit emotions while educating the reader in a black historical fiction reminds me of the Beverly Jenkins. I learned so much and felt so much at the same time. Can I say Intestinal Fortitude!!!!

The characters were so well developed that the reader quickly becomes invested in their journey. I was rooting for these strong black women to achieve their educational goal because I knew that would be the truth vehicle to their upward mobility. I cried for them and cheered for them because this felt like a win for them would be a win for my ancestors.

Thank you Sadeqa Johnson for this moving story that had an uplifting ending. I am truly hoping to see it as a movie! It deserves to be told in a grand way. Just like the Yellow Wife, this will be one of my top reads for the year. I LOVE THIS BOOK!

Special Thanks to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley where I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

What a wonderful read! Evelyn and Ruby are two very different women from completely different backgrounds, whose worlds collide. Both are ambitious and hard working. There is so much more to this book than I can include here, don’t miss this one!

I am never disappointed when reading Sadaqa Johnson's work. I read The Yellow Wife and fell in love with her writing. Her writing helps me learn so much about my history.

The House of Eve was everything. Ruby was determined to finish her scholar program and get the scholarship to become an ophthalmologist to help heal her Grandmother's sight.

Eleanor was determined to become and archivist. Attending Howard the elite HBCU. Both woman had ambition they wanted more for themselves.
I loved how both stories crossed paths and gave meaning to each other. This book taught me alot on our history. How we were treated by others and by our own kind. I especially loved how the author used the relation referencing The Yellow Wife to the characters in the book.

This book will not disappoint at all, especially if you are a fan of historical fiction as I am.

I'm not typically one to grab for historical fiction, but I have been trying to broaden my horizons. I received a copy of the book through netgalley so I really had no excuse not to give the book a try. I'm so glad I read it. This book is very well written and tackles important issues. I like to think I am always trying to better myself and always able to see from other folks perspectives. I think this book as well as getting older reminds me how I can never truly understand things from someone else's perspective. I can empathize with the plight, but I can never really know how it feels to be black. Or black, female, pregnant, and unmarried at (seemingly surprisingly) a time when it was EVEN more dangerous to be one or more of those things. I'm not trying to get political here, but this book does a beautiful job of reminding us that we still have so far to go and so many people of suffered.
I struggled to put this book down and look forward to reading more of Sadeqa Johnson's work.

This is a beautifully written book that is both heartbreaking and thought provoking. It’s not a topic I know much about, and I feel like I learned so much from it. This is definitely a book that will stay with you after you’ve finished it. Thank you to NetGalley for this wonderful read!

Solid 4.5 star read! Really loved the two characters/same timeline. I loved how Ruby and Evelyn had so much in common, yet their lives took hugely different paths. My one thing is this book maybe didnt need to be this long. Loved that there was a nod to the author's previous book, Yellow Wife, in there!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The premise of the book drew me in but once I started reading it, I just couldn’t get into it at all.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

This is beautiful story and I loved that it was dual narrative not dual timeline (we read a LOT of dual timeline historical fiction). It does feel like the themes explored here and a lot of the plot is something I've experienced before, however, I am glad this book exists and I'm so glad it's making it's way into so many readers hands.

This evocative, entrancing story of one woman’s struggle against oppression had me riveted until the very end.

Full review up soon on my blog, Instagram & Tiktok.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Another amazing piece of historical fiction from Sadeqa Johnson. Like Yellow Wife, it had a mostly happy but bittersweet ending. I like how she connected the two books and how there was a little bit of hope at the end about a certain something. Her books are a slow burn, but get really good in the second half.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a free e-reader copy of The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson in exchange for an honest review.

This superb novel set in the late 1940s features two young Black female protagonists in alternating chapters. Ruby is a whip smart high school student living in poverty in Philadelphia with her aunt while working to become one of a small number of Black students to earn a college scholarship through a program called We Rise. When she begins a forbidden friendship with her white Jewish landlord’s son Shimmy, she puts everything she’s worked so hard for in jeopardy.

Eleanor is a brilliant college student attending Howard University while working in the school library as an assistant archivist and at a department store to afford her tuition when she meets William, the son of a well to do Black DC power couple. His parents don’t think she’s good enough for him, but they only have eyes for each other.

How both women overcome their challenges is just part of the story. Underlying the novel are the challenges big and small that young women, especially Black and economically disadvantaged women, faced in the post-war era when the path for women was all but laid out by society, and woe to those who did not follow.

As with Johnson’s The Yellow Wife, the character development, story line and historical details are spot on and the writing is just gorgeous. An easy five stars, and I can’t wait for what theis brilliant author does next.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read Yellow Wife and fell in love with this author so I was excited to see this book come up. Sadeqa Johnson is such a powerful writer and both books have been phenomenal at bringing truth to what was happening at the times. This book is well written and instills emotions into what both these young women struggle with. It does deal with forced adoption, differences in race and class, infertility, poverty, miscarriage, and abortion. I loved how the book ended where it brings all the characters together full circle. 5 star read that deals with hard issues that women faced in the 1950's.

5/5 stars! Sadeqa Johnson is one of the best authors! I loved The Yellow Wife, and I loved this book also! Her books transport me to the time period, and I find myself rooting for her characters and feeling their heartbreaks and love! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!