Book Review: "We Are All Good People Here" by Susan Rebecca White
“We Are All Good People Here” by Susan Rebecca White
Synopsis: Eve Whalen, privileged child of an old-money Atlanta family, meets Daniella Gold in the fall of 1962, on their first day at Belmont College. Paired as roommates, the two become fast friends. Daniella, raised in Georgetown by a Jewish father and a Methodist mother, has always felt caught between two worlds. But at Belmont, her bond with Eve allows her to finally experience a sense of belonging. That is, until the girls’ expanding awareness of the South’s systematic injustice forces them to question everything they thought they knew about the world and their places in it.
Eve veers toward radicalism—a choice pragmatic Daniella cannot fathom. After a tragedy, Eve returns to Daniella for help in beginning anew, hoping to shed her past. But the past isn’t so easily buried, as Daniella and Eve discover when their daughters are endangered by secrets meant to stay hidden.
Spanning more than thirty years of American history, from the twilight of Kennedy’s Camelot to the beginning of Bill Clinton’s presidency, We Are All Good People Here is “a captivating…meaningful, resonant story” (Emily Giffin, author of All We Ever Wanted) about two flawed but well-meaning women clinging to a lifelong friendship that is tested by the rushing waters of history and their own good intentions.—Simon and Schuster
Rating (out of 5): 3.75
Review: A brief departure from spooky time with Momo! As you can see from the categories, this one checks a lot of SFOL’s favorites: female friendship, historical fiction, feminism, politics. While the book deals with some very heavy topics, the writing isn’t dense and this is a quick read. While I didn’t find it a perfect read, I enjoyed it a great deal and think many of you will as well.
Eve’s first introduction to systemic racism happens early on in her freshman year of college when her roommate and best friend, Daniella, is denied admission to a sorority because she is half Jewish. This spurs Eve toward radicalism and a path that will, throughout time, bring her alternately closer and more estranged from Daniella. Daniella’s way of addressing systemic injustice is much more mainstream, causing friction between the two.
Eve’s years of radicalism were the one part of the book that didn’t strike me as totally realistic. Of course I am familiar with The Weathermen and other radical sects, I just felt that the dialogue and some of the action didn’t strike me as completely authentic. Though we learn to perceive Eve as a malleable character who tends to bend to the will of the men in her life, the radical shifts she makes throughout her life seem a bit extreme.
The latter part of the book focuses on Eve and Daniella’s daughters, who grow up together. I enjoyed this shift as it allowed me to see Eve and Daniella’s positive and negative characteristics through a different eye. The plot during this time again takes the two friends away from each other: permanently? we’re not sure.
Overall, I loved this look at how female friendships grow, evolve, and change, and the particular ways in which women support or fail to support each other. I definitely recommend giving it a try, and I look forward to more from Susan Rebecca White!
TL;DR: Very solid historical literary fiction about two women and how their lives veer toward and away from each other. A quick but thoughtful read, I definitely suggest picking this one up.
If you liked this; try these:
“The Interestings” by Meg Wolitzer
“A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” by Betty Smith
“The Female Persuasion” by Meg Wolitzer
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