Julie Metz’s ‘Eva and Eve’ Digs Into the Past and Reveals the Unbreakable Courage of the Human Spirit [REVIEW]

Most of us think we know our parents. But have you ever wondered if they have been keeping secrets from you? For writer Julie Metz, she knew that her mother seldom talked about her childhood. But following her mom’s death, she was astonished to discover a book that would take her on an amazing journey to the past in pursuit of her mother’s lost childhood. Now the results of that investigation are available for all of us to read in Eva and Eve, a tale that will make you reexamine your own family tree and the legacy your ancestors left behind.

Julie Metz always knew her mother Eve as the ultimate New Yorker, a woman who thrived in Manhattan and rarely, if ever, dreamed of living anywhere else. After all, few cities can match New York’s thriving cultural scene, and it is a metropolis that fueled her mom’s passion for the arts and fine dining.

But upon Eve’s death, Julie found a keepsake book at the back of a drawer that was filled with farewell notes from friends and relatives, all written to a 10-year-old girl named Eva. Julie discovered a photo of the girl dated January 1938, a shy smile on her face, dressed in a floral print with a lace collar. Here, she viewed the world through then innocent eyes.

It is amazing what a few months can do though, and as Julie explored the volume, it set her off on a quest to discover the true story behind her mother’s long-buried pain as she fled her beloved Vienna and a population who saw her as an enemy of a new empire and made her way to America, where she was faced with the America First movement, antisemitism, and xenophobia.

Julie felt compelled to take up her mother’s silent challenge, to share their family saga, a tale that ultimately reminds everyone that America has always been a nation of adventurers and refugees, and why we must all learn to be more tolerant and welcoming.

With Eva and Eve, Julie Metz relates a tale with thoughtful, graceful prose that makes each page a heartfelt gift. It opens the door to a world on fire, shining a light on the situations people like her family faced as the Nazis infested their homeland. It demonstrates how one man validated and normalized hatred throughout the continent. And it showcases the fact that even in our own recent history, attitudes have not changed all that much. We are still facing so many of the same issues in today’s political climate.

I remember reading Anne Frank’s tragic diary in high school, and this book is reminiscent of that. However, unlike Frank’s book, we discover how this story ends, how the people escaped, survived, and rebuilt their lives, never to be the same again. Metz does a wonderful job validating the importance of discovering our heritage, even as she connects the dots between her mother and grandparents’ story and her own, showing how the trials they survived changed not only the survivors but the trajectory of their entire family for generations to come. There is great merit in taking the time to understand where we come from and who came before us.

Whether you enjoy reading spellbinding nonfiction, are fascinated by the history of the World War II era, or are simply curious about learning more about your own genealogy, Eva and Eve is a must read. This book will warrant a place on your keeper shelf as both a stunning tribute to a beloved parent and a testament to the unbreakable courage of the human spirit.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Julie Metz is the New York Times bestselling author of Perfection. Her new release is Eva and Eve: A Search for my Mother’s Lost Childhood and What a War Left Behind.

Julie is the recipient of fellowships at MacDowell, Yaddo, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. She has written for publications including The New York Times, Dame, and Salon and essays have appeared in The Moment and The House That Made Me.

She lives with her family in the Hudson Valley.

For more information, visit JulieMetz.com, subscribe to her YouTube channel, and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

EVA AND EVE
By Julie Metz
320 pp. Atria Books. $28.

Purchase Eva and Eve direct from Jathan & Heather Books or from one of these fine online retailers: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Half Price Books, Hudson Booksellers, IndieBound, Powell’s, Target, or Walmart.

Eva and Eve is brought to you in association with TLC Book Tours.