5 Stars. Thank you to Net Galley and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review an advance release copy of “The House of Eve” by Sadeqa Johnson.

I really enjoyed this well researched work of historical fiction. Sadeqa Johnson does a marvelous job of weaving together the experiences of two young black women as they navigate difficult life circumstances.

“The House of Eve” follows, in alternating chapters, the lives of two young “negro” girls in the 1950’s in Philadelphia and Washington D.C.. Ruby is a talented high school student who aspires to be the first in her family to attend college but comes from a family that makes that dream hard to imagine. Eleanor is a second year student from Ohio who attends Howard University. Her parents have sacrificed a great deal to allow her that opportunity. Both girls work very hard toward their goals.

Both girls find themselves in loving relationships that don’t fit into societal norms and dealing with inconvenient pregnancies. Marriage for Ruby would have meant a move to California. Marriage for Eleanor meant striving for acceptance in a family of affluence that could have passed for white.

Woven into the story are issues of class, race, family relationships, infertility and the experience of girls who were sent to homes for unwed mothers.

I highly recommend this heart warming book for anyone who thrives on learning more about life circumstances and experiences of other people in other times. This would make for excellent book club discussion. Sadeqa Johnson is a talented story teller and I will be going back to read her previous books.