Evita: The Woman with the Whip

by Mary Main

1st edition Corgi 1977 paperback, vg In stock shipped from our UK warehouse

Genres: Biography, History

288 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1977

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although I knew nothing about Eva Peron I felt this book didn't do a terribly good job of describing her life. Inadequate research meant that the book had a superficial feel. Neither Eva nor those who knew her were interviewed. Her family, her work coleagues, her friends, her enemies. None of them were interviewed (or at least quoted). She seems like a mystery woman - the writer claims it is because Eva has covered her tracks so well, but I can't help but feel it's because the writer didn't do her job properly. There must be better books on Eva Peron around.

[Sinclair Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

The historical truth of this book has been debated and so I do not rely upon it as an authentic on Eva Peron and the history of Argentina. However, it makes for an interesting character study about the eccentric wife of a dictator and her incredible rags-to-riches-to-corruption story. The author also makes some sizzling one-liners and interesting insights on universal truths about dictators and populism.

[Frtaberna · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is ironic that the author is both Argentine and British. She took upon the utterly difficult task of representing a half-mythologised figure in a country that she does not seem to fully understand, or at least from a point of view that is not from the Buenos Aires elite of the time.

That is one issue with the book. The author is judging this incredibly complex figure with a judgmentality that belongs much more to a British sensibility than an understanding of the Argentine soul. She calls her passionate rhetorical displays as nauseating in their sentimental language, deeming them inferior to the “restraints of honesty”, making them a mark of the cultured and educated. This sounds to me closer to a commonly British reverence for the understated than an objective description of what honesty should be like. Then she condescendingly describes the Argentine masses as gullible ignorants that could be swayed by such displays, without showing true empathetic understanding for the kind of hope, actual change and, most important and for the first time, opportunity for political participation that they were experiencing.

But that’s how it is with Peronism. It somehow always provokes either fanatical or completely repudiatory accounts.

This is not to underappreciate the author’s analytical skill. She does a great character study of Eva Perón that, if taken along with other sources, can add up to a nuanced understanding of what she was about. Her descriptions of her humble beginnings, her innate flamboyant temperament, her cynical relationship with men and the unfair treatment that her mother and herself received from them, helps complete
the picture. Yet, I wouldn’t go as far as attribute all of her political vision and actions to a relentless search for power and adulation, a bitter resentment towards the privileged, and an impossibility to love men as people instead of mere means for security in a patriarcal society. It is thought-provoking for sure, but too lopsided.

Aside from that, another upside I see is her description of rural Argentine life, which although verging on the caricaturesque at times, it rings true in certain ways.

Juan Domingo Perón is given much less credit for the development of the Peronist movement than he actually had, even though he is its primary ideological architect and applier. He is mainly portrayed as a charismatic, well-tempered muppet, to whom Eva’s explosive character was indispensable for achieving any of his political aims. And the problem is that the author doesn’t really depict him as having any strong political aims or beliefs, even though he is indeed a fundamental political thinker and writer of the country’s history.

It is a good read for that complexity in Eva’s character study, the research behind its descriptions of the events, and the richness of the author’s prose. Still, it is far from adequate as a standalone source if someone wants to understand Eva Perón, Peronism and the Argentina of that period.

One thing for sure, once one has made up one’s opinion about her, love her, hate her, or whatever (and there really are valid reasons for choosing any side) Evita remains a badass.

[Rick Wilmot · Rating 4 out of 5]

A review of this book would depend on what one would already know about Eva Perón. I have read much about this woman, her ups and downs. I have collected all the stamps with her on them together with postcards and other Evita memorabilia.
It was written in 1952, the year Evita died of cancer at 33 years of age. Mary Main admits she had never met Evita although she apparently tried and was refused an interview. The details seem to come from hearsay, newspapers and anything else Ms. Main could find. As I read this book I had the feeling the author was showing a fair amount of envy and she had searched for the worst aspects of Evita´s life. The love-hate relationship between Evita and the Argentine people seems to me to be no different to any similar feelings about any world leaders and their people, Boris Johnson and Donald Trump being examples.
Anyone interested in the nightmare of Argentine politics at the time should read this book. Her early death certainly left a huge question....what if she had lived?

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this was the only book in the library about Eva Peron. It's not at all well written, lots of grammatical errors even. It could be the translation. It's pretty much what you would expect from a book called "The Woman with the Whip". If you can sift through the balony, you can learn a bit about her life, but there's a lot of sifting going on.

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eva Peron for a time was such an influential figure in Argentine culture and politics she held sway over a whole nation and all fell under her spell.
Born in poverty in 1919 before her death at the age of 33 in 1952 she overcame this with an incredible rise to power when she met Juan Peron.
This is the story of her life, childhood, thwarted acting career, her so called charitable organisations and leadership of “The shirtless ones.”
This is a no holds barred look at the lady behind the myth and the devious nature of her climb up the social ladder.
This was fascinating and a look at a powerful lady that still inspires a feeling of evil and yet also awe at her ill founded accomplishments.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This took me a long time to read as I kept putting it down. Evita is a fascinating character but this biography, although quite informative, is not particularly riveting.

I learnt quite a bit about her rise to legend-status. She was delusional and psychotic but absolutely the power behind the throne of Peron. The totalitarian regime she mostly designed and built kept her and her obsequious lackeys in luxurious comfort but destroyed the country. She died young at 33 of cancer. One can't help wonder what would become of Argentina had she lived.

[Eva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Insight of Argentina and the atmosphere in the 20th century.
Did not connect with the personae of Eva Péron, found difficult to relate and empath with.
Preferred not to pursue the read, 3/4 in and let go of the book.

Definitely rich in elements and information about he time and place.

[Greg Robinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

well-researched biography on a substantial person; warts and all

[Hannah Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read but very archaically written and often clumsy in places.

[Wendy Brennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent account

[Velvetink · Rating 3 out of 5]

5'5'14 loaned to pop