Friday, September 29, 2017

Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours Book Review: Evita, My Argentina


Evita...My Argentina by Helen R. Davis

Publication Date: February 10, 2017
Custom Book Publications
eBook & Paperback; 228 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction/Biographical
EVITA … My Argentina Evita Perón tells her own spectacular story. Tracing her life back to her humble beginnings, when she is abandoned by her father, Evita takes the reader on her journey to become an actress and later, to the pivotal moment when she meets Colonel Juan Perón. Never content to stay in her husband’s shadow, Evita reveals how she shares his belief that Peronism will help the working class. Eventually she begins doing work on her own as the president of the Society of Benevolence, helping the poor and winning the peoples’ trust. As the times change and women get the vote, Evita becomes even more powerful, running the Ministries of Labor and Health, starting a foundation, and organizing the first female party, The Female Peronist Party. A larger-than-life story, told in her own fictional words, the powerful novel is as educational as it is entertaining.

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Review: I have to say, Evita has intrigued me since I first listened to the musical back in my high school days. I'll even go as far as to admit to having the songs from the musical in my head as I read the book.

I learned quite a bit from this book. Up until this book, I had only found one biography. This book really made me want to learn much more about this woman who is very much a modern mystery.

It's told from Eva's point of view and in some ways that was a little detrimental to the story. Eva's voice didn't come across as strong, but rather more childish and immature. The book definitely could have been longer. Eva lived a lot in her 33 years.

Eva Peron is a cross between good and evil, depending on what you read. There are hints of Eva's darker side, and how anyone that was a threat to Peronism disappeared, but for the most part, this book painted Eva as Santa Evita.

From what I've read Ms. Davis did a very good at giving the details of Eva's life, but there was a lot that I felt was omitted. (One of the reasons I found the book to be a bit too short) I expected more about her relationship with Juan. I couldn't imagine Evita telling the story of her life without telling of her relationship with her husband. Also, from everything I read, Eva was totally unaware that she had cancer.

The one thing that really stuck me about Eva was how hard she worked for the poor people, regardless of whether it was done to make her look good, or if she really was the humanitarian. I hadn't heard of her children's city, until I read this.

This was an enjoyable read and a good book for Evita fans to read.

Rating: 4 flowers




About the Author

Helen R. Davis is an American author. Her first novel, Evita: My Argentina was previously published as Evita: My Life and republished with Custom Book Publications in Hong Kong. Her second novel, CLEOPATRA UNCONQUERED, which is the first in a series, imagines a world in which Antony and Cleopatra, rather than Augustus Caesar, are the victors of the Battle of Actium. the sequel, CLEOPATRA VICTORIOUS, will be released soon, followed by the titles CLEOPATRA MAGNIFICA and CLEOPATRA TRIUMPHANT. Her third novel, or at least, her third historical novel/alternate history, THE MOST HAPPY, will be published with Callipe Editorial, based out of Madrid Spain, on July 25th, 2017. For more information, please visit Helen Davis' website. You can also connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, September 25 Interview at Passages to the Past
Tuesday, September 26 Review at History From a Woman's Perspective (The Most Happy) Wednesday, September 27 Review at A Bookish Affair Guest Post at A Holland Reads
Thursday, September 28 Review at Pursuing Stacie (Cleopatra Unconquered)
Friday, September 29 Review at A Chick Who Reads (Evita)
Review at 100 Pages a Day (The Most Happy)
Monday, October 2 Review at Must Read Faster (The Most Happy)
Tuesday, October 3 Review at Book Nerd (Evita)
Wednesday, October 4 Review at Tudor Enthusiast (The Most Happy)
Thursday, October 5 Review at Faery Tales Are Real (The Most Happy)
Friday, October 6 Review at Pursuing Stacie (The Most Happy)

Giveaway

During the Blog Tour we will be giving away eBooks of Cleopatra Unconquered & Evita...My Argentina & a paperback of The Most Happy! To enter, please enter via the Gleam form below. Giveaway Rules – Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on October 6th. You must be 18 or older to enter. – Giveaway is open to residents in the US only. – Only one entry per household. – All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion. – Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen. Helen R. Davis

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Eva died at 33, not 38.

Thanks for the review!

The Mistress of the Dark said...

Changed that. Still she had an awful lot of living in such a short life. Truly one of the most interesting political figures that is still shrouded in so much mystery.

Passages to the Past said...

Thank you, Andrea, for your great review & for hosting Helen's Blog Tour! You're the best!

Amy
HF Virtual Book Tours

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

She is. I discovered after completing my research and writing the novel that it is possible Juan had her lobotomized during the end of her life.

Also, I believe Eva knew she had cancer,but they tried to keep it secret.

The Mistress of the Dark said...

I read about the possible lobotomy. The possible reasons given for it were exceptionally sad.

It is a shame that because of the type of leader Juan Peron was, we never will know as much as we could about Eva.

Unknown said...

I know this is a late comment.

I tried to learn as much as I could given what you stated. The truth can be found with a lot of digging and research, but one has to research both those who are for and against her. The sources I used are listed in my bibliography, but I also enjoyed Madonna's movie, Faye Dunaway's TV movie and the Argentine film Eva Peron starring Esther Goris. I also went to Argentina to experience Eva's territory and it brought a dimension to her character I could not truly perceive from biographies. The Eva Peron Museum is fantastic! I also met a man who knew her. He became very emotional just remembering her, and meeting him was something I will remember for the rest of my life. He cried remembering her cancer.

My novel was written because I felt Eva's own voice was lacking and I tried, as best as I could, to give it back to her.

Thanks again!

 
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