The House of Eve

Ruby is mostly unconscious, but every time she wakes up, the white people in the room give her another IV. She feels someone between her legs asking for a forceps, and she is asked to push. She screams as she feels something yanked from her, and decides she hates all white people, including Shimmy and his mother. The nurse wraps her baby in a green blanket, and nobody answers when Ruby asks for the baby’s sex. She then wishes for her own mother.

The nurse comes back with the baby and asks Ruby to breastfeed her daughter, but warns her not to get attached. Ruby sees both Inez and Shimmy in the baby, and names her Grace. She will nurse the baby for five days. She considers her options, but remembers how much Inez hates her and wonders if Inez planned to love her at the beginning. Ruby thinks about Aunt Marie’s warnings about being stuck in poverty if she keeps the baby, and then thinks about the shaming room. During the final feeding, Ruby cries. The nurse pinches her to take the baby from her. Ruby recites the Our Father prayer.

Mother Margaret calls Eleanor and William, and tells them that they can pick up their baby that night and reminds them to bring a donation. William again tells Eleanor how good of a job she did. They get to Mother Margaret’s office and are surprised to be handed a daughter. Mother Margaret says she must have made a mistake if she told them the baby was a son, and the couple is dazzled by their new daughter. They name her Wilhelmina and close her birth record.

Ruby is returned to the home, and a new Black girl named Mary arrives. Ruby wants to warn her, but decides she will experience the home for herself and might as well have a few last moments of peace. She only has to work at the home for a week, which means Mrs. Shapiro must have given the home a decent amount of money. Ruby and the other girls who have given birth are taken to a Catholic Church to clean. The girls are forced to sleep in the basement, but Ruby must sleep in the hallway because she is Black.

Back at home, Wilhelmina screams, and Eleanor has already developed soothing instincts. William gets ready to go to work. By the third day, Eleanor is exhausted, and William tells her that his parents are coming over to meet the baby. Speculating that Rose and William planned the adoption from the start, Eleanor wants her in-laws to leave so she can talk to William about it. Rose comments on Wilhelmina’s green eyes and says they must have come from the Pride bloodline. Suddenly, Eleanor speculates that Wilhelmina is William’s baby with another woman. She accuses William of lying and says Mother Margaret made a comment about Rose, implying her involvement. William admits he and his mother did plan the adoption to make the process easier for her, and Eleanor says Wilhelmina must be his because of her green eyes. She then storms out.

When Ruby returns home for good, she sees coins under the door (as Aunt Marie partakes in illegal gambling). She gets in the bathtub and cries for Grace (Wilhelmina) and all the girls who have had to suffer and make the same choice she did. She returns to six students in We Rise, and later, while reading Their Eyes Were Watching God, Shimmy comes over. He kisses Ruby, but she cuts him off. She realizes that in losing Grace and Shimmy, she has lost those who matter most.

Eleanor arrives at her parents’ house while her father is out. She tells her mother, Lorraine, about her miscarriage and adoption. The next day, she tells her mother that she left Wilhelmina with William and Rose.

Ruby goes to see her mother, who is pushing a stroller down the street. Inez tells her that she has no money for her, and Ruby says she is not looking for money. She asks how Leap is, and Inez gets suspicious but says they will be getting married soon. Inez says her new baby’s name is Lena, and that Ruby should leave because Leap is expected. Ruby formally meets her sister and realizes that while her mother did not love her the way she needed, Inez did leave her with Grandma Nene—like she left Grace with other parents. Inez reiterates that Aunt Marie loves Ruby and will keep her safe. She then hands over a letter from Cheyney University.

Eleanor’s mother has left for a few hours when Rose shows up at the house. She admits Eleanor has grown on her and explains that her grandmother, Birdie, was the child of an enslaved person and a white slave-jail owner. Unlike her two sisters, Birdie refused to pass as white. Still, she married a pale Black doctor and the two were able to advance because they passed as white. Rose admits her family has held themselves above poorer, uneducated Black people. She says she has done all she can for William’s sake.

When Eleanor says she, herself, is not a mother, Rose reiterates how much William has done for her out of love. Rose respects her tenacity and assures her that while she did play a role in the adoption process, Wilhelmina is not William’s baby by another woman. She refrained from telling Eleanor the truth because of their previous tension. She then gives her a bracelet that was once her own grandmother’s; she wanted to give it to a daughter, but since she does not have one, she wants her daughter-in-law to have it. Rose encourages Eleanor to go to Wilhelmina. Eleanor goes for a walk and when she returns home, William and Wilhelmina are on the porch; his back is bent over their baby like he used to do over books. William apologizes and says his mother told him where to find her.

As Mrs. Shapiro promised, Ruby is given a scholarship to Cheyney. Aunt Marie is proud, but Ruby feels numb.

Thirteen years later, Eleanor has become an archivist. There are race riots in Harlem, and Eleanor plans to call her sister-in-law in the area to check on them. Wilhelmina Rose Lorraine Pride wonders why her body is so developed while her mother’s is slight. Eleanor goes to the hospital where William introduces her to Dr. Ruby Pearsall, a new optometrist, and Eleanor finds familiarity in her touch. She realizes Ruby’s smile does not meet her eyes. Ruby notes a painting behind William, and he says his daughter painted it. She says the girl has an eye for art.