Review: Daughters of Eve

Daughters of Eve by Lois Duncan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Originally published in 1979, this is a revised (culturally updated) edition released in 2011 [the characters have cell phones, for example; many of the high school students drive their own cars). Lois Duncan was noted for her prolific publication in the YA Genre; in an interview appended to this edition, she stated that because her first published novel was YA, the publisher then contracted for further YA, and then on.


I found DAUGHTERS OF EVE immensely engrossing, yet ultimately unsettling [to the point of sleeplessness]. The tiny community of Modesta, Michigan is such a 1950's-era anomaly: to the point that the chauvinism is not only stifling, but revolting. It also proves to be dangerous, for the town's female population and for the abusers.


The novel is also a microcosm of an ideologue's descent into psychosis, and a charismatic individual's talent to warp minds and psyches. I'm not at all surprised that this novel has been a Challenged book, as its plot threatens the patriarchal status quo and the "powers that be." It's also psychologically disturbing. I read DAUGHTERS OF EVE pursuant to my September Banned and Challenged Books Challenge.

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