The House of Eve: When Love, Shame, and Choices Collide
A Review of The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson
I recently finished The House of Eve by Sadeqa Johnson, a historical fiction novel that captures the intersecting lives of two Black women navigating vastly different worlds in 1950s America. Ruby, a fifteen-year-old from a working-class family, and Eleanor, a college student trying to balance love, family expectations, and her future, both face life-changing decisions that force them to reckon with love, motherhood, and societal judgment.
Without spoiling too much, Johnson masterfully explores the weight women carried during that era—especially when it came to motherhood outside of marriage. What struck me most was how unforgiving society was to women who became pregnant without a husband. A man might be pushed to marry her to “save face,” or, if that didn’t happen, she could be sent away to a place like the fictional “House of Magdalene.”
Curious about whether these places existed, I did some digging. They were, in fact, based on real institutions known as Magdalene asylums or Magdalene laundries, which operated from the 18th through the late 20th centuries. Run primarily by religious organizations, they housed women deemed “fallen”—often unmarried mothers or abuse survivors. Many endured forced labor, isolation, and the heartbreak of being separated from their children.
Reading Ruby’s and Eleanor’s stories made me reflect—not just on how far we’ve come, but also on how much still lingers beneath the surface for mothers today. While we’re no longer sent away to asylums, many of us still carry invisible weight—emotional, mental, and spiritual—because of the partners we’ve chosen or the expectations placed on us. Too often, we don’t choose the man in front of us; we choose his potential. And when that potential never becomes reality, we’re left carrying more than just the responsibilities of motherhood—we’re left holding the pieces of a dream that never came true.
This part of The House of Eve hit me deeply and actually inspired another post on my blog, Connecting the Dots: The Part They Don’t Tell — A Mother’s Reflection on Shame and Accountability. In that piece, I open up about how the history of unwed motherhood still echoes today—looking at how shotgun marriages faded, how the conversation around responsibility has shifted, and how we as mothers can shed the shame and start owning our stories again.
If you’re drawn to historical fiction that doesn’t just tell a story but also stirs reflection, The House of Eve is worth the read. Sadeqa Johnson delivers a layered, emotional journey that lingers long after the last page.
For more conversations like this, including my personal reflection inspired by this story, Connecting the Dots: The Part They Don’t Tell — A Mother’s Reflection on Shame and Accountability, make sure to subscribe to The Circle of Becoming. That’s where we go deeper into the stories, lessons, and healing journeys that help us grow together.
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