Eva Perón, or how Cinderella found her Rainbow High, thanks, in part to her work ethic, legacy and refusal to forget her very working-class roots.

Thanks, NetGalley and Pen & Sword for this advanced copy of The Life of Eva Perón by Victoria Haddock in exchange for an honest review.

Would it surprise anyone to know that I know of Eva through the musical Evita? I doubt it. In this solid, respectful memoir by Haddock, Haddock efficiently explores the sources available and the story that most aligns with Eva's rise from illegitimate daughter, B-list actress (the only apt comparison with Meghan Markle but more of that later) to overnight media darling, mainstay of Señor Perón and crusader for the descamisados. Should Haddock read this, she'd likely cede that it's quite tricky, given Rice's excellent work as a lyricist, to avoid each chapter fitting in perfectly with a song from Evita. We cover the youth (Beware of the City), her rebirth in Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires), her illustrious meeting with Perón (I'd be Surprisingly Good for You, the resistance towards Eva from the old guard ('A New Argentina), her tour (Rainbow Tour), her innate love of fashion ('Rainbow High), her apex and decline (Don't Cry for Me, Argentina, She's a Diamond), her lifeblood seeping away (You Must Love Me).

Haddock's focus is on dispelling the Madonna/Whore complex and Evita's fascist proclivities based on her Rainbow Tour. I particularly enjoyed Haddock's summary of the war between Eva and Carmen Polo, the wife of Franco. They didn't get on, likely because Polo saw her as an upstart and Eva saw herself as a crusader for the poor, which, as Haddock points out Polo saw as the Reds who tried to scuttle Franco's eventual victory. She works hard to dispel the overriding belief that Evita transferred millions from the Evita fund into a Swiss bank account, noting that no information has been found to prove this.

Haddock is particularly interested in aligning Eva's story within the Cinderella framework. She explains the hypocritical element of Eva believing that her dressing in designer threads is her way of a) playing the establishment at their own game and b) showcasing that any descamisado can be prosperous. While I appreciate this is a solid angle, along with Eva's implicit understanding of feminism as a means to further the cause of women in society, I would be interested in the focus having been on Eva's critics and how Eva was able to maintain the pulse in Argentine society.

I have to say that I was slightly put off by the comparisons with modern royalty or celebrity. Examples:

"Just as Meghan Markle was the subject of unjust media focus during her time as a working royal, the negative press fodder of Eva's life made perfect press fodder for newspapers and magazines in America."
- Yes, technically true, however, I think that Meghan's arrival into the BRF was a viral story at the time that would have changed course had she stayed. This implies that Meghan was a sacrificial lamb as opposed to a fish-out-of-water celebrity (the obvious comparison would be the actress/working woman aspect) who needed to understand the mechanisms. Additionally, part of the criticism has subsequently proved to be justified, as the reputation she gained for being abrasive was why the coverage was particularly intense.

"Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC), born to a working-class Puerto Rican family in the Bronx, New York."
- I find this utterly baffling. A basic search tells me that AOC moved to Yorktown Heights, Westchester County in 1994. I don't know if it's attractive to tie AOC into the book due to her being Latina, however, I do think that it's time that we dispel the myth that AOC was working class as opposed to lower-middle and that she was Bronx-born and raised. It's akin to Bowie's born in Brixton, raised in Beckenham narrative that nobody pays attention to.

"In the Women with the Whip, Mary Main claimed that the Eva Perón Foundation kept no records of its accounts, as the foundation was merely a front to allow the Peróns to siphon away millions of dollars."
And later:
"Eva honestly admitted that no accounting books were kept for the charity. 'I just use the money for the poor,' she told Cowles."

So, really, Main is partially correct that no accounts were kept, unless Eva, as Head, wasn't kept abreast of the finances; however, there is no evidence that money was siphoned. Perhaps, if there were records kept as Fraser and Navarro claim, there would need to be evidence, was it destroyed in the '50s? Could Haddock indicate why there are long-held rumours about the transparency of the Foundation past rumour and innuendo?

"Mary Main's highly critical 1952 biography of Evita, The Woman with the Whip, which Tim Rice has stated (in his view) is the definitive biography."
Yes, I knew this, but perhaps some analysis of which sections Rice read, which influenced his view of Evita/Juan? Right now in London, there is a revival, which is a huge success (it looks awful but there you go, London beats to its own drum), surely the musical is a key ingredient for the legacy of Evita. A search on Wikipedia says this:

There is some disagreement, however, about the role Magaldi played in Eva's real life, or whether they knew each other. For example, in the biography Evita: The Real Life of Eva Perón, biographers Marysa Navarro and Nicholas Fraser write that there are no records of Magaldi performing in Eva's hometown of Junín in the year that Eva is said to have met Magaldi.

A major historical error is that the musical shows Magaldi performing at a charity concert given in aid of the victims of an earthquake in San Juan, Argentina. The concert, where Eva Duarte and Juan Perón met for the first time, happened on January 22, 1944, when Magaldi had been dead for over five years.

Here, Haddock implies Magaldi is part of the myth. Why not include this element? Has the author seen the musical? Could she thread (without using 'I think') elements of why it is poisonous for what we know of this historical figure?

Other than these issues, a very pleasant read (and I accept the comparison with the Duchess of Cambridge's 2024 health issues as akin to the media secrecy around Eva's cancer and eventual death!)

I was always intrigued by the life of Eva Peron so this was a really interesting book to come across. I found it so informative and full of information. I highly recommend it if you are interested in her life and history.