whitneydaniell

by: Sadeqa Johnson
published: Feb 7, 2023
genre: Romance, Historical Fiction, Fiction
384 pages, Hardcover

Ruby Pearsall and Eleanor Quarles have no idea that their lives are about to be forever changed in major ways.

Fifteen year old, Ruby is looking forward to excelling in her We Rise program, which once completed, will offer her a full scholarship to Cheney University. Ruby wants to be an Optometrist. She’s doing all the things right; making good grades, keeping up with her housework, and helping care for her grandmother.

College sophomore, Eleanor is enjoying her time at Howard University studying to be a librarian/archivist. From a small town in Ohio, she is learning about more than just the coursework of her degree.

Both Ruby and Eleanor find love in men that come from a different side of the world.

My Thoughts: I loved the contrast between Ruby and Eleanor, all the while, the many ways in which they are similar. Ruby from inner city Philadelphia but in many ways, her city is her small town: only able to traverse a small radius of her city. When Ruby gets to go downtown where the whites shop, she is met with hostility and blatant racism. Eleanor, from an actual small town in Ohio, is unaware of all the ways that blacks have progressed and gained wealth, until she is at Howard University, where unfortunately she is not met with racism but, colorism and classism.

Both women, fish out of water in their own back yards. Both women fall hopelessly in love with men that come from a different walk of life. William Pride, soon-to-be doctor, is from a “uppity” black family who rub shoulders with the elite of Washington DC. Eleanor didn’t even know there were elite Negros. Ruby falls for a white, Jewish boy from a wealthy family – a family who in fact, owns the building where her and her Aunt Marie live. Both of these women loved hard, fast, and free without a care in the world.

When that love is tested by all factors of outside society, their lives are forever changed.

I loved everything about this book. I hope there is a follow up that follows Ruby’s life after school and Wilhelminas’s life as she grows into her own person. I loved the theme of unwavering love that was woven through this book. Even in areas where I just knew the men were going to be trash, both William and Shimmy exceeded all expectations.

This was a gripping tale of how far you would go for love. Love of self. Love of a partner. And love for a child. These women break their hearts into a million pieces for those that they love and I loved that in the end, everyone came out in one-piece. There is no struggle love here. Only powerful, thoughtful, caring love.

One-Word Summary: Big Money McGillicuddy