Eva's Man by Gayl Jones

“The trouble with you is you don't feel nothing.”

Lord have mercy! This book is not for those who are fainthearted. This is a very triggering & disturbing read. So if you are on the hunt for a tame novel, laughter & character progression, this is not the one for you.

Too many TW's to name, just approach ‘Eva's Man' with great amounts of caution.

Eva Medina is a patient at a psychiatric unit. She has murdered her lover in gruesome fashion, and everybody wants to know why. The thing is, Medina does not say anything, and this overwhelming silence and lack of autonomy plays a huge part in why Eva becomes a psychiatric patient. Abused, prodded & propositioned by a large number of men from the tender age of 4, Eva shifts between her memories of this tragic encounters to offer readers insight into her life thus far.

Blimmng heck! This was a very interesting read but extremely dark. I don't know how some of these classic authors had the balls to write such dark & tragic stories (I am still in recovery from The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison). Eva's Man, however, is a great exploration of the lack of autonomy that women face in a world that is often led by the perverted.

I was extremely disappointed in Eva's parents. As much as Eva'os mother wanted to shield her daughter from the verbal discussions around intimacy, she failed to protect her from the physical acts of intimacy. Maybe if they had better conversations, Eva would have been more self-aware. Dearie me.

While Eva's Man is a very extreme depiction of SA, depravity & grooming, i think it holds a very necessary discussion around the safety of young girls & women.

The shifting memories and vignettes of Eva's experiences were very hard to follow at times, and they were also very repetitive, BUT for me this allowed for what I believe to be a great exploration of mental health.

I don't know if i would recommend this book as it is extremely heavy, but it is well written.

⭐️⭐️⭐️