Book: The House of Eve
Author: Sadeqa Johnson
Publication: Renegade
Price: Rs 799
Set in post-1940s America, Sadeqa Johnson’s latest historical fiction follows the story of two girls, Ruby and Eleanor, as they come of age in a disturbing world. Ruby Pearsall has enrolled herself in a programme that would offer her a scholarship to study in college and become an optometrist. She would be the first girl from her family to not take up the path black women are condemned to: poverty and destitution. But things go haywire when she falls in love with a white Jewish boy, Shimmy, and her dreams of leaving the ghetto of North Philadelphia seem to disappear.
Meanwhile, in Washington D.C., Eleanor Quarles is finishing a degree in history at Howard University while working at the library as an archivist. Her mother’s hard work and savings to send her to study constantly hover at the back of her mind as she feels out of place among the urban elites. While working at the library, she becomes infatuated with William Pride, a medical student at the university. One thing leads to another and soon they are married. Eleanor is intent on assimilating herself into William’s elite circle but her body fails her.
Written in four parts, the story of Ruby and Eleanor is told through alternate chapters as they fall in love, discover truths, and survive the impending struggles life has to offer. Johnson’s writing is alluring with its tight phrasing and flowing sentences. The style is evocative and the book reads like a well-written script. Her intersectional approach to race is telling when she goes beyond the black-white binary. The House of Eve offers a refreshing take on what racism meant and the forms it took, especially for young girls like Ruby and Eleanor.
Despite its literary achievements, Johnson’s novel falters by being predictable to the point that the plots start falling into place too simply. The complex nuances with which Johnson had begun teeter by the end, leaving a faint taste of an appetizing meal gone stale. Nonetheless, in a world where problems from previous centuries
continue to fester, the novel demands attention.
