Boullosa refutes this entrenched, dangerous perspective in her foundational and brazen feminist novel.

Based on this exploration, at times both joyful and painful, The Book of Eve takes a tour through the stories we've been told since childhood, which have helped to foster (and cement) the absurd idea that woman is the companion, complement, and even accessory to man, opening the door to criminal violence against women. In brilliant prose, Carmen Boullosa offers a twist on the Book of Genesis that dismantles patriarchy and rebuilds our understanding of the world-from the origin of gastronomy, to the domestication of animals, to the cultivation of land and pleasure-all through the feminine gaze. Intimate, witty, and deeply sexy, Homebodies is a testament to those trying to be heard and loved in a world that refuses to make space, and introduces a standout new writer.What if everything they've told us about the Garden of Eden was wrong? Faced with what appears to be an apocryphal manuscript containing ten books and 91 chapters, Eve decides to tell her version of the story of Genesis: she was not created from Adam's rib, nor is it correct that she was expelled for taking the apple from the serpent the story of Abel and Cain isn't true, neither are those of the Flood and the Tower of Babel.

When a media scandal catapults Mickey’s forgotten letter into the public zeitgeist, suddenly everyone wants to hear what Mickey has to say. Forced to reckon with just how fragile her life is-including the uncertainty of her relationship-she flees to the last place she ever dreamed she would run to, her hometown, desperate for a break from her troubles.īack home, Mickey is seduced by the simplicity of her old life-and the flirtation of a former flame-but her life in New York refuses to be forgotten. But when her letter is met with overwhelming silence, Mickey is sent into a tailspin of self-doubt.

Despite being overlooked and mistreated at work, it seems like she might finally get the chance to prove herself-until she finds out she’s being replaced.ĭistraught and enraged, Mickey fires back with a detailed letter outlining the racism and sexism she’s endured as a Black woman in media, certain it will change the world for the better. It’s not all A-list parties and steamy romance, but Mickey’s on her way, and it’s far from the messy life she left behind in Maryland. She has a flashy media job that makes her feel successful and a devoted girlfriend who takes care of her when she comes home exhausted and demoralized. Mickey Hayward dreams of writing stories that matter. Urgent, propulsive, and strikingly insightful, Homebodies is a thrilling debut novel about a young Black writer whose world is turned upside down when she loses her coveted job in media and her searing manifesto about racism in the industry goes viral.

Homebodies by Tembe Denton-Hurst