The House of Eve

This book is so well written! I'm so in love with the characters. Even the villains were well developed. It's such an emotional journey without being exhausting. It was so sweet and each story captures all of your feelings and shakes them up as you read what happens next. Sadeqa Johnson has a brilliant imagination and I loved the ride! I enjoyed seeing the little Easter eggs from "The Yellow Wife" and I smiled to myself. I swooned each and every time William appeared, even his back made me melt. It's such a nice break from work, holiday rush and life stresses. I think the ending is perfect and rather than a continuance, I like the style of more of her work with a few peeks into the characters here and there. I get that other readers want a book two but I think the longing is a great place to stop and show up via new characters and stories from the mind of this awesome writer.I'm hesitant to read another book and ruin the lovely (William's favorite adjective) taste of this read on my brain.

The House of Eve, paints a vivid world of life-alerting choices, consequences, circumstances, sacrifices and longing. A walk back in time with lots of twists and turns. Definitely, leaves you wanting more! Fast pace and heart wrenching stories within the stories. The House of Eve is a memorable tale of forbidden love, motherhood, ambition, the perils of pride and prejudice, and real love.

Reading “The House of Eve” often felt like a memory I had forgotten long ago. Sadeqa Johnson recreated an authentic time and space where unforgettable characters survived and thrived. The reader will feel, taste and smell each scene from the North Philly streets, a top HBCU campus to tony D.C. neighborhoods, to industrial Ohio.The scintillating big band sounds & vocals of Ella, Duke, & Cab played in my childhood home in 50’s era D.C. A teenaged friend “in the family way” was suddenly disappeared to a home for unwed mothers for months, returning alone. Aunties and cousins were like second mothers and sisters.Howard University’s women’s dorms in the 60’s were still formal, requiring curfews & weekend sign outs. Sororities were identified by a certain look. Founders Library housed an impressive archive of the African diaspora. Well heeled Black families sent their best and brightest.This story unrolled like a captivating slice of 1950’s African-American life. It revealed the struggles and hardships of those redlined to overcrowded, under-resourced communities as well as their determination to overcome these obstacles. It also captured the lives and struggles of the Black elite, whose education and good fortune was often defined by colorism & classism.This is another wonderful historical novel by the talented Sedeqa Johnson.

This book was selected by a member of my local bookclub. It was an easy read that held my attention from beginning to end. Having spent a part of my early childhood in Washington DC, I was intrigued by the details of the lives of the upper crust Black society (“Gold Coast”) families in the D.C. area. I will definitely read more of Sadeqa Johnson’s books.

I enjoyed this book. It had a.good.pace, good characters and.a.good.story line. It was interesting gave me knowledge without preaching. Made me think.

This story held me captive!!!! I could barely put the book down to go to bed. It is an excellent read!!!!

As I started to read each story I was concerned about the connections. When Eleanor became pregnant for the second time I started to predict she would have a miscarriage. Once she had the miscarriage I predicted the story from there. I continued to read to prove my prediction was correct. Although I was able to predict the story I was interested in the generational connections too. The home for unwed mothers is something I heard about growing up in the sixties but I didn't know anyone who was there. I always thought you had to be catholic. The brutal affect of the nuns is something I heard over and again from other people. I enjoy learning, yes Cheney University was one of the first historically black college. The ending was interesting although I didn't predict that.

Just finished reading this book. It’s so interesting to read how things were for women back during that time. My father was a small child during this time and it just gave me a small peek into the times that black ppl experienced. There were some moments that made me extremely mad. It’s so sad that race played a huge part in determining who you got to love and be with. I really wish things were different for Eleanor. As for Ruby I’m glad she still got the chance to be the first one in her family to attend college and have her dream job. The ending of the book did leave me on a cliff hanger and I really wish we got a chance to find out how that whole situation played out. I’m extremely glad that things have changed in history. Women getting pregnant now whether it be in college or unmarried , they don’t have to give up their babies or marry someone just because they’re pregnant … we have so many more options than having a husband to support us. This book was a really good read.

Book was a very good read

Loved every moment! So we’ll written, descriptions made you feel you were actually there. The story was so real and not predictable!

I couldn’t stop reading it.

I must say that Sadeqa Johnson is such a talented author and knows how to really capture each and every moment in a way that makes it hard to put her books down. As a part of a book club we first read Yellow Wife and we were absolutely enthralled by that book which led us to immediately choosing another book of hers and it did not disappoint. Jumping from Ruby to Eleanor’s POV made you feel for both young women and realise that a few life decisions or a few chance encounters really matter in our fate. From beginning to end this book had us feeling for both main characters. I would highly suggest choosing this book as your next read!

Good emotional read, Sadeqa Johnson, the writer tells the story beautifully of two very different women whose lives intertwined unexpectedly