We Are All Good People Here – Book Review

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Author: Susan Rebecca White

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Atria Books

Published: August 6, 2019

Description: 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.

Book Rating: 2 1/2 Stars

Review: We Are All Good People Here is a story that spans 30 years and tells the story of a strong female friendship and bond. Daniella and Eve meet in their first year of college and are roommates. Eve is a two time legacy of this school and sorority Fluer. Daniella comes from an educated family and is moving to the south for the first time. Her father is Jewish but she was raised Unitarian. The story begins with your typical Rush and Daniella is blackballed because of her last name and Eve ends up fighting for her. In the end they both leave the school. What happens after is a roller coaster ride. Daniella starts to be an activist with the civil rights movement and leaves Eve behind. They do work through their issues, and become extremely close again. However, Eve does have a secret that haunts her.

Part 2 begins shortly after and now the story jumps forward to the 1980’s and is now narrated by Daniella’s daughter. Eve and Daniella’s daughters are close, even being raised by the same nanny. You get to watch them grow and see their friendship through their adolescence. In High School, Eve’s secret comes to haunt the daughters.

This was a tale of two different books for me. I found the story of Eve and Daniella intriguing and really enjoyed it, then as soon as Part 2 began, it started to lose me. The change of POV’s was not necessary at all. I felt I had this close relationship with Eve and Daniella and then all the sudden there was an intruder, that I was never able to connect with. If you have read my previous blogs you know I crave that connection with the characters.

Overall it was ok. The writing was good, but for me this was a tale of two halves. Part 1 so good, Part 2 zero connection.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.