“You don’t care because you don’t have to, Shimmy. You live in a beautiful safe bubble, and the world says I don’t belong there.”–Sadeqa Johnson, The House of Eve
This is a fascinating story of two young Black women, Eleanor and Ruby, set in the 1950s. Eleanor comes from rural Ohio and she and her parents have worked hard for her to attend Howard University in Washington D.C. When she meets and falls in love with William Pride, a medical student at Howard, her life seems perfect. But her darker skin and blue collar roots don’t sit well with William’s wealthy, elite, lighter skinned family.
Ruby is a 15 year old from Philadelphia who is desperately trying to escape generational poverty by receiving one of two 4 year scholarships to college so she can become an optometrist. There are many obstacles in her path but the largest is a forbidden love that threatens her dream of attending college and escaping the plight of all the women in her life,
Both women will need to make difficult decisions and those decisions have a major impact on the life of the other. This is a dual point of view story and narrative is powerful, gut wrenching, and beautiful. There were times I wanted to cry with the women in their frustration and grief and I felt anger at how women were treated, especially those from marginalized communities. It is a treatise on women, motherhood, and the impossible sacrifices required to achieve one’s dream.
Content Advisory: Some language, sex