Evita and Me by Erika Rummel

Publisher:  DX Varos Publishing (May 24, 2022)
Category: Historical Fiction, Crime, Women’s Literature
Tour Dates June 21-July 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-1955065320
Available in Print and ebook, 384 pages

Description Evita and Me by Erika Rummel

Evita Peron’s jewels are missing. Only three people know that they are in a vault in the Swiss Alps; Evita’s corrupt and brutal brother Juan, her bodyguard Pierre, and a teenaged girl Mona, her newest protegee. What happens if two of them team up?

Like Eva herself, Mona comes from a broken family and has to make her own way. Perhaps that’s why the two women feel close. Evita is at the pinnacle of success but already in the grip of a fatal illness. We see her life through the eyes of Mona and Pierre, two people she trusts — and who betray her in the end. Or can theft and murder be justified?

A story of love, adventure, and murder.

Praise For Erika Rummel

“This is a fast paced page turner.  A suspenseful, thrilling roller coaster ride with lots of twisty, loopy sections.  Head Games is an apt title for this enthralling read. “- Joy Renee, Joy Story

“Identity’s a big theme in this work, so if you’ve ever felt you were someone other than yourself, if you thought you might like to try living in someone else’s skin, if you’ve wondered whether your friends and loved ones were not exactly who they claimed to be, then this psychological labyrinth might just be your winding road to a good read”.- Carole Giangrande, Words to Go

“This was a book that grabbed me from the start. It’s a period in history that offered much to the world but also had some of man’s darkest moments.  Due to that it does provide rich material for a novelist and Ms. Rummel does an excellent job of taking her reader on a dangerous journey through the twists and turns of what many faced during the time. The characters are well developed and defined. The scenes are well described and I found myself feeling like I was actually walking the streets with the characters of the book.”-Patty, Books Cooks Looks

“To live during such tumultuous times would be horrible. You would have to be careful of every word that came out of your mouth. That might be easy when you are alert, but what about when you are so tired that you can’t even think? This book made me thankful that I was born in America in the 20th century. Any fan of riveting historical fiction will get lost in this book from page one.”-Lisa, Lisa’s Writopia

Guest Post by Erika Rummel

I’ve written history books. Why I love writing historical fiction.

Writing a history book is a mental exercise, the reconstruction of a distant era based on documents. But documents can tell you only so much. Writing historical fiction is an exercise in imagination, and imagination has no limits.  Take my new novel, EVITA AND ME. Historical fact: Evita’s jewels have gone missing, and we don’t know where they are now. No problem for the omniscient fiction writer! Let me tell you: Those jewels are in a bank vault in the Swiss Alps.

“The road ends at a metal-studded entrance carved right into the mountainside. The wind feels barbed when we get out of the car, as if the season had changed overnight, and we had skipped the spring and summer.

We walk through the gate, which has opened at our approach – some technical alert and response. Inside the mountain, there is a reception area with another steel door at the far side, flanked by a pair of guards. They are armed with machine guns.

Behrle is waiting for us. He receives us with a deferential bow. He seems out of place in this mafioso setting, a banker in a pinstriped suit. He should be sitting behind a large polished desk in an office in Zurich. His cheeks are the kind of rosy that doesn’t tan. His neck bulges a little above the immaculate white shirt collar. He isn’t fat, but substantial, a man with a good digestion and easy conscience…

He leads on, through the door, along a passage carved into the rock. The air is stale. Wall sconce with caged bulbs cast a yellow light on the concrete floor. A pipe runs along the wall. I can hear water trickling through it – that and our footsteps are the only sound.

Duarte and I each carry one of the steel boxes with Evita’s jewels. We come to a round steel portal looking like the door of a giant washing machine. Behrle spins the wheel mounted on the portal, using the bulk of his body to shield his exact movements from our eyes. One of the guards steps forward and helps him pull open the door. Behrle waves us through.”

 Historical fact: We will never know for sure whether Duarte, Evita’s thuggish brother, committed suicide or was murdered. But fiction writers need not stick to forensics. I can tell you that Juan Duarte was murdered, with his own gun.

“It’s an army-issue Ballester-Molina, the same I trained on when I was in Security. I pull it out. It is loaded and lies in my hand heavy and solid, beautifully crafted by a company that also builds trucks. I tuck it into the inside pocket of my jacket, then change my mind. Too awkward to reach. Too obvious.  I change it to my right outside pocket. The gun forms a visible bulge but that can’t be helped. I step into the living room.

Duarte is still sitting on the couch, but his feet are up on the coffee table now. His head is resting on the back of the sofa, his mouth open. I listen to his breath coming regularly, with a slight rasp in his throat. He looks peaceful. The drink has put him to sleep. I walk up to him and put the gun to his head, as close to his right temple as I can without touching it. I pull the trigger. The gun makes a sharp barking noise. The force of the impact kicks Duarte’s head sideways. His eyes snap open and look at me for a moment with wonder, then close again, but a brilliant, angry eye opens up in the side of his head, welling with red hot fury. I wipe the grip of the gun with my jacket and put it into his right hand.”

Historical fact: Evita died of cancer at the age of 33. We have photos of her last public appearance on the balcony of the presidential palace: frail, full of heroic dignity. But what happened after she left the balcony? Did she collapse sobbing? Was she afraid to die? A scene in EVITA AND ME answers that unanswerable question.

“The year is 1947. Evita and her young companion, Mona, are on a flight from Buenos Aires to Madrid. It’s Mona’s first flight. She is terrified.

Evita was sitting at the table in the cabin, writing. When she looked up, I saw panic in her eyes. I couldn’t believe it. Was she afraid of flying too? Perhaps she just put on a brave face for me. But in her position, she must be used to flying! I sat down on the seat across from her. She looked up and said “No, come over here and sit beside me, querida.” The usual force had gone out of her voice.

When I slipped into the seat beside her, she held on to my arm with her left hand, while she kept writing. I saw that it was a letter to Juan. That anxious grip was unexpected. It was almost as if we had reversed roles, and I was supposed to look out for her and protect her. I couldn’t see myself helping anyone in that way. I didn’t have it in me. I didn’t feel protective. That was her role!

It wasn’t until many years later that she understood what Evita was afraid of: death. Pierre, Evita’s bodyguard, recognized the signs at once:

They are there for all to see. She has lost weight. She is starting to look gaunt. Her energy is flagging. You can’t camouflage cancer in the long run. Death is written in her eyes, at least for those who can read the message, who have seen death before.”

I love writing historical novels. Historical documents are often just teasers: dates, facts, figures. I fill in the gaps and add the third dimension. Evita was an idol and, some say, a saint. But she was also human, and that’s how she appears in EVITA AND ME – true to life.

About Erika Rummel

Award winning author, Erika Rummel is the author of more than a dozen non-fiction books and seven novels. Her seventh novel, ‘Evita and Me’ is being published on May 24, 2022.

She won the Random House Creative Writing Award (2011) for a chapter from ‘The Effects of Isolation on the Brain’ and The Colorado Independent Publishers’ Association’ Award for Best Historical Novel, in 2018. She is the recipient of a Getty Fellowship and the Killam Award.

Erika grew up in Vienna, emigrated to Canada and obtained a PhD from the University of Toronto. She taught at Wilfrid Laurier and U of Toronto.  She divides her time between Toronto and Los Angeles and has lived in Argentina, Romania, and Bulgaria.

Erika’s Website: http://www.erikarummel.com/
Erika’s Blog: http://rummelsincrediblestories.blogspot.ca/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/historycracks

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