The Daring Life and Dangerous Times of Eve Adams

By: Jonathan Ned Katz

Narrated by: Romy Nordlinger

Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Eve Adams was a rebel. Born Chawa Zloczewer into a Jewish family in Poland, Adams emigrated to the United States in 1912. The young woman befriended anarchists, sold radical publications, took a new name, and ran lesbian-and-gay-friendly speakeasies in Chicago and New York. Then, in 1925, Adams risked all to write and publish a book titled Lesbian Love. In a repressive era, long before today's gay liberation movement, when American women had just gained the right to vote, Adams's bold activism caught the attention of the young J. Edgar Hoover and the US Bureau of Investigation, leading to her surveillance and arrest.

In a case that pitted immigration officials, the New York City police, and a biased informer against her, Adams was convicted of publishing an obscene book and of attempted sex with a policewoman sent to entrap her. Adams was jailed and then deported back to Europe, and ultimately murdered by Nazis in Auschwitz.

In The Daring Life and Deadly Times of Eve Adams, acclaimed historian Jonathan Ned Katz has recovered the extraordinary story of an early daring activist. Drawing on startling evidence, carefully distinguishing fact from fiction, Katz presents the first biography of Adams, and the publisher reprints the long-lost text of Adams's rare, unique book Lesbian Love.

©2021 Jonathan Ned Katz (P)2021 Tantor

Powerful story with excellent narration

Amazing story beautifully narrated by Romy Nordlinger. Although I wanted to hear a bit more about Eve's inner life and the writing was somewhst stolid, the journey - the story of he brilliant and brave Eve Adam coupled with the poweful narration make this a harrowing must listen.

Epilogue trashes President Donald Trump!

I enjoyed the story and the performance, until we got to the epilogue. Eve was born in 1891 and died in the 40s. In the epilogue the writer mentions how President Donald Trump colluded with the Russians. That is such crap!

Appropriately Titled, glad I listened

Thank you Dr Katz, for this remarkable story, and for putting it in context. As a Jewish Lesbian, I really appreciate the opportunity to learn about Eves very daring life. I am particularly glad to learn of woman, who clearly made her way by her wits. Also really glad to learn about Emma Goldman and others in their orbit. Ms Nordlinger, you have a beautiful voice. I don’t know if it’s due to the way this was edited, but your tone, cadence and pitch are so constant as to be confusing in places where changes would have been helpful- as a shift in character perspective, or content- it’s a bit disconcerting to hear the progressive events of the Nazi rise to power , the collaboration with the French, etc, read with the same tone with which the happier events of Eves life were recounted.

Needs heavy editing

Eva Adams was a fascinating woman and there were many interesting aspects of this book. That said the authors writing style is dry and the books is extremely repetitive. Narrator didn’t help pep things up. At time is just felt like she was reading from a Boeing history textbook