For March, both of Central library’s book groups read and discussed this year’s Same Page Community read, “The House of Eve” (2023) by Sadeqa Johnson.  Every year, JMRL works with the Virginia Festival of the Book and the JMRL Friends of the Library to highlight a celebrated author and distribute free copies of one of their books throughout the JMRL service area.  The author then comes to Charlottesville during the Virginia Festival of the Book to speak about the Same Page book with the community and readers have a chance to ask questions and meet the author.  

“The House of Eve” is historical fiction set in the Philadelphia and Washington, DC areas in the 1950s.  The story follows the lives of two young black women, Ruby and Eleanor, and the choices they make.  Granted, the choices available to them at the time were limited…  Themes include motherhood, reproductive choice, second chances, racism, classism, secrecy, and the importance of education.  (A little library and librarian appreciation is also included in the plotline!)

So what did our Books on Tap and Brown Bagger readers think about “The House of Eve”? One reader felt strongly that every character in the story misrepresented themselves; no one was truthful or genuine.  Ruby was generally considered the more engaging character and the author said she meant that to be the case when she was writing the story.  The mothers of the central male characters (William and Shimmy), play a strong role in managing (and manipulating) their sons and are heavily (overly?) invested in their futures.

“The House of Eve” also illustrates the colorism at that time of the Washington, DC black upper class and the Howard University student body.  Lighter skinned, wealthier blacks looked down on the “sharecropper” darker and poorer blacks and segregated themselves.  

While readers agreed that it was important to uncover the history and the horrors of the maternity homes for young, pregnant women, Mother Margaret, at the House of Magdalene in Washington, came off particularly bad.

The audiobook version of the book had two narrators which made it enjoyable.

While there was some criticism by our readers regarding the neatly wrapped up conclusion to the book, both groups discussed the possibility of a sequel.  Will a secret of this proportion stay a secret?  Will we find out what happens with Ruby and whether she and Wilhelmina will discover their connection to each other?  Only time will tell.

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