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Evvie
It was a time when skirts were short and hair was shingled. A time of speakeasies, hip flasks and bathtub gin. A time when Evvie Ashton, the beautiful society girl who modeled, danced, painted and loved promiscuously had come of age--knowing all the right people and doing all the wrong things....
255 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1960
About the author
Vera Caspary
44 books110 followersVera Caspary, an acclaimed American writer of novels, plays, short stories and screenplays, was born in Chicago in 1899. Her writing talent shone from a young age and, following the death of her father, her work became the primary source of income for Caspary and her mother. A young woman when the Great Depression hit America, Caspary soon developed a keen interest in Socialist causes, and joined the Communist Party under a pseudonym. Although she soon left the party after becoming disillusioned, Caspary's leftist leanings would later come back to haunt her when she was greylisted from Hollywood in the 1950s for Communist sympathies. Caspary spent this period of self-described 'purgatory' alternately in Europe and America with her husband, Igee Goldsmith, in order to find work. After Igee's death in 1964, Caspary returned permanently to New York, where she wrote a further eight titles. Vera Caspary died in 1987 and is survived by a literary legacy of strong independent female characters.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 13, 2025
As much a memoir of Vera Caspary's life in Chicago during the Roaring Twenties a century ago as a murder mystery. Two young women making careers in changing times, looking back from the vantage point of being written in the late 1950s. The crime doesn't occur until well past the halfway point, and before that we meet a large cast of vivid, interesting characters, listen to some frank discussions about sex, and learn how to make bathtub gin. Crude at times, hardboiled, going for a harsh realist edge, with a candid recognition that people have sex, which would've given Edith Wharton a stroke (probably not, actually). If I had a "read it again" pile of books, this would be on it.
August 2, 2011
Welcome to the Roaring Twenties in Chicago. Short skirts and shingled hair. Free love and bathtub gin. A time when young women were testing new-found freedoms in love, at work, and at the voting booth. Meet Evvie and Louise. Two women who have been friends since they were girls. They have shared secrets, sleepovers, clothes, their ups and downs with men, a studio apartment...everything. Well, everything until Evvie falls in love. Suddenly, she's secretive. She won't tell Louise who the mystery man is. And Evvie feels an air of danger surrounding her friend. She suspects she knows the lover's identity and fears that Evvie has gotten herself mixed up with the wrong sort of man. And, when Evvie is found murdered on Labor Day weekend, it would seem that Louise's fears were justified. The newspapers cry scandal and dig up all the dirt on Evvie that they can....and no one, not even those who knew the women best, can believe that Louise really doesn't know who the mysterious lover is.
Vera Caspary has such a way with words. I absolutely loved Laura when I read it (and later watched the movie). Evvie is just as well-written. This is an excellent snapshot of life in the 1920s--showing how young women were stretching their wings and becoming more financially independent. The friendship between the two girls is spot on and the historical details are finely drawn. Everything sails along until the denouement....that, I'm afraid, is a bit of a let-down. I had a much different scenario in mind...one a little more full of passion to match Evvie's mystery love affair. Not that the ending doesn't work. It does. Just not quite the way I expected.
Still, a fine read. Very absorbing in period detail and a very interesting character study of Evvie and Louise and the men who love them. Four stars...a better ending would have pushed it into five star territory.
A few choice quotes:
[Louise on diaries]
Such jottings, illegible and often untranslatable, give structure and sequence to the jumble of facts and impressions stored in a disorderly memory. Much, of course, was falsely observed and has been deformed by time. In the end only specters remain. Masked and distorted they creep out to mock at vanity.
...it was the sum of our high spirits, the combination of mood and personality that gave the flavor of humor, the sense of wild joy. There was no memorable remark yet every word seemed witty. The evening seemed to have been born of itself and to flower without reason. We might plan repetition, eat the same foods, drink wine of the same vintage, hear the same music, but there would never be another like this night, this hour, this moment.
Smoke and dimness magnified the throb of jazz. This cavern was all music, all beat and brass with an occasional piano solo as dramatic as silence.
This was the season of obsession. Passionate infection caught us in all its raging fever.
Vera Caspary has such a way with words. I absolutely loved Laura when I read it (and later watched the movie). Evvie is just as well-written. This is an excellent snapshot of life in the 1920s--showing how young women were stretching their wings and becoming more financially independent. The friendship between the two girls is spot on and the historical details are finely drawn. Everything sails along until the denouement....that, I'm afraid, is a bit of a let-down. I had a much different scenario in mind...one a little more full of passion to match Evvie's mystery love affair. Not that the ending doesn't work. It does. Just not quite the way I expected.
Still, a fine read. Very absorbing in period detail and a very interesting character study of Evvie and Louise and the men who love them. Four stars...a better ending would have pushed it into five star territory.
A few choice quotes:
[Louise on diaries]
Such jottings, illegible and often untranslatable, give structure and sequence to the jumble of facts and impressions stored in a disorderly memory. Much, of course, was falsely observed and has been deformed by time. In the end only specters remain. Masked and distorted they creep out to mock at vanity.
...it was the sum of our high spirits, the combination of mood and personality that gave the flavor of humor, the sense of wild joy. There was no memorable remark yet every word seemed witty. The evening seemed to have been born of itself and to flower without reason. We might plan repetition, eat the same foods, drink wine of the same vintage, hear the same music, but there would never be another like this night, this hour, this moment.
Smoke and dimness magnified the throb of jazz. This cavern was all music, all beat and brass with an occasional piano solo as dramatic as silence.
This was the season of obsession. Passionate infection caught us in all its raging fever.
April 16, 2015
What a remarkable find! This “hard-boiled” style that I usually associate with detective novels of the 30’s and 40’s is right at home here, but with an elegance of writing that generates vivid imagery. The characters are unusually clear and easily impressed themselves in my memory. Best of all, I always looked forward to my next reading session, and I was never disappointed!
The writer is known for writing one of the classic noir detective novels, LAURA, from which a truly classic mystery film was made. I had long been curious to read the original and added it to my reading list. However, EVVIE came to me as a recommendation and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The novel isn’t a traditional mystery story at all, bringing the reader into the lives and machinations of various characters, especially two young women who share an apartment loft. The language is provocative and would still be considered a bit racy today, and a sense of the "forbidden" lingers in several situations. The settings are so generously described that they felt real to me.
When affairs take a turn to the deadly, there are suspects aplenty. The strength of the story is centering on the thoughts and perspectives of Louise, a young woman who wants to live life to the fullest, but who also finds that she may not be as safe from her emotions as she would like. Her world is so richly presented that I felt I knew what it was like to live there. Clues casually make appearances, and the murderer was a surprise to me (although completely in the realm of possibility).
The result is something like a James M. Cain novel being channeled by F. Scott Fitzgerald, although the writer’s style is one all her own. I understand that she wrote many novels, and I will be seeking more of them out. They don’t need to be mysteries. This is a writer who is completely in charge of her literary environment.
I highly recommend this one.
The writer is known for writing one of the classic noir detective novels, LAURA, from which a truly classic mystery film was made. I had long been curious to read the original and added it to my reading list. However, EVVIE came to me as a recommendation and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The novel isn’t a traditional mystery story at all, bringing the reader into the lives and machinations of various characters, especially two young women who share an apartment loft. The language is provocative and would still be considered a bit racy today, and a sense of the "forbidden" lingers in several situations. The settings are so generously described that they felt real to me.
When affairs take a turn to the deadly, there are suspects aplenty. The strength of the story is centering on the thoughts and perspectives of Louise, a young woman who wants to live life to the fullest, but who also finds that she may not be as safe from her emotions as she would like. Her world is so richly presented that I felt I knew what it was like to live there. Clues casually make appearances, and the murderer was a surprise to me (although completely in the realm of possibility).
The result is something like a James M. Cain novel being channeled by F. Scott Fitzgerald, although the writer’s style is one all her own. I understand that she wrote many novels, and I will be seeking more of them out. They don’t need to be mysteries. This is a writer who is completely in charge of her literary environment.
I highly recommend this one.
July 13, 2014
I absolutely did not want this book to end! This is an excellent noir romp that truly gives you an idea of what being a young adult in 1920s Chicago must have been like. The descriptions are exquisite. I felt like I could actually see and and smell and hear the sets and characters.
Fair warning, this book will not be to everyone's taste. The plot does not move quickly, but instead builds the drama and suspicion slowly until it's all consuming. The ending feels anti-climatic, and is even explicitly described as such by Louise (the narrator). For me this unsatisfying ending doesn't take away from the power of the story at all. Rather, I find it made the story feel more realistic and impactful. The anti-climatic ending is actually quite a twist from where you think the story is headed. If it had ended the way you thought it was going to end for 95% of the book, I think I would have been less satisfied. Instead, I was left reeling and saying, "I did NOT see that coming!"
Also, the characters are not necessarily likable, but I wound up caring about them anyway. They are not perfect, flat caricatures. Instead, they are vibrant, flawed, and incredibly human. Louise is purposely delusional, Evvie is needy, Midge is callow, and Carl... Carl is not the type of man one should love. He is cruel, jealous, and violent. And, since this book does take place in the 20s, some of the descriptions of male/female interactions will make you cringe (hair ruffling in the workplace, for example).
This is a book meant to be savored and lingered over. Perhaps with a rainy day and a gin & tonic? Read it when you have the time to slow down and enjoy the prose and the ambiance it creates.
Fair warning, this book will not be to everyone's taste. The plot does not move quickly, but instead builds the drama and suspicion slowly until it's all consuming. The ending feels anti-climatic, and is even explicitly described as such by Louise (the narrator). For me this unsatisfying ending doesn't take away from the power of the story at all. Rather, I find it made the story feel more realistic and impactful. The anti-climatic ending is actually quite a twist from where you think the story is headed. If it had ended the way you thought it was going to end for 95% of the book, I think I would have been less satisfied. Instead, I was left reeling and saying, "I did NOT see that coming!"
Also, the characters are not necessarily likable, but I wound up caring about them anyway. They are not perfect, flat caricatures. Instead, they are vibrant, flawed, and incredibly human. Louise is purposely delusional, Evvie is needy, Midge is callow, and Carl... Carl is not the type of man one should love. He is cruel, jealous, and violent. And, since this book does take place in the 20s, some of the descriptions of male/female interactions will make you cringe (hair ruffling in the workplace, for example).
This is a book meant to be savored and lingered over. Perhaps with a rainy day and a gin & tonic? Read it when you have the time to slow down and enjoy the prose and the ambiance it creates.
August 31, 2014
I have fallen head over heels in love with the cool and clever noir world. The second of Ms. Caspary's novels I have read, Evvie was marvelous. Taut and suspenseful, the characters were nuanced and masterfully textured. Written in 1960, Capary explored the world of the late 1920's, capturing the recklessness and gaiety of that time. The three primary narrative threads - the relationship between roommates, a "working girl's" relationship with her boss, and the love story between the boss and one of the roommates - are tightly woven so one is caught in their web. I stayed up until 3am to finish this thriller. That might give you a clue of my interest.
April 5, 2014
I have always loved "Laura" so had high expectations for this one, only the second book I have read from Ms Caspary. I could hardly put it down - then the ending happened. It was like listening to a lovely piece of music for the first time with full band or orchestra and suddenly a quick trumpet solo and it just stops. NOT a satisfying ending. it just stopped.
January 1, 2024
Una gran desilusión, sobre todo después de leer Laura, su gran obra llevada al cine por Otto Preminger y hoy considerada una de las mejores películas de la historia.
Otra vez gira todo en torno a una mujer, la mencionada Evvie, está muy bien escrita, pero es tan descriptiva y larga que le quita mucha de la acción que necesita una novela policial.
No envejeció bien esta obra. La mitad del libro es la descripción del personaje de Evvie, pone más énfasis en esto que en la resolución del caso.
Lo que si me llamo la atención es como este tratado el tema del sexo, muy presente y muy explícito, por lo menos para una novela de 1960.
Otra vez gira todo en torno a una mujer, la mencionada Evvie, está muy bien escrita, pero es tan descriptiva y larga que le quita mucha de la acción que necesita una novela policial.
No envejeció bien esta obra. La mitad del libro es la descripción del personaje de Evvie, pone más énfasis en esto que en la resolución del caso.
Lo que si me llamo la atención es como este tratado el tema del sexo, muy presente y muy explícito, por lo menos para una novela de 1960.
November 22, 2019
No es perfecta. Pero qué maravilla de imperfección.
Vera Caspary se salta a la torera todos los convencionalismos del género, para darle un tortazo al mismo. Esta novela da para analizar durante horas y horas.
https://laparedvacia.com/evvie-de-ver...
Vera Caspary se salta a la torera todos los convencionalismos del género, para darle un tortazo al mismo. Esta novela da para analizar durante horas y horas.
https://laparedvacia.com/evvie-de-ver...
May 3, 2022
¡Ah! Vera Caspary… No sé cómo esta autora no tiene más reconocimiento en la actualidad es, sencillamente, fantástica. Su escritura es increíble, pulcra, única y con un desarrollo de personajes increíble. Es como si alguien tomara los libros de Ágatha Christie (que me encantan, pero vamos, son lecturas sencillas) y los escribieran con mucha más complejidad.
Este libro en particular, para mí tiene visos de los libros de Christie, pero mezclada con El Gran Gatsby: una novela que toma lugar en los años veinte del siglo pasado, entre Charleston, glamour, amores y un asesinato.
10/10
Este libro en particular, para mí tiene visos de los libros de Christie, pero mezclada con El Gran Gatsby: una novela que toma lugar en los años veinte del siglo pasado, entre Charleston, glamour, amores y un asesinato.
10/10
August 4, 2019
Should've been shorter. Also, points for realism, but the ending was unsatisfying. More after I've had time to sleep on it.
April 27, 2017
I'm reading the Kindle preview to Evvie and I think my head's going to explode. If you like John Dos Passos' USA Trilogy (I DO), Evvie is for you. If you like Warren William pre-code Warner Bros movies (I DO), Evvie is for you. If you like Louise Brooks (the narrator's even called Louise!), Evvie is for you, if you like Bohemian girls kissing in bed (who doesn't?), Evvie is for you.
Well, now that I've finished the book I have to admit that the first half was very lively and then something turns in the second half and the pacing gets rather dead in spots. Still in all, Evvie is a very special novel worthy of your attention and enjoyment.
Well, now that I've finished the book I have to admit that the first half was very lively and then something turns in the second half and the pacing gets rather dead in spots. Still in all, Evvie is a very special novel worthy of your attention and enjoyment.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews