The Woman with the Whip

Cover of "The Woman with the Whip" as it appeared upon publication in 1952

The Woman with the Whip is a 1952 biography of political leader Eva Perón, the late First Lady and Spiritual Leader of the Nation of Argentina. Published in England and the United States shortly after Eva Perón's death, it was the first hostile biography of Eva Perón to be published and it has therefore been used by her detractors ever since. This book is thought to be the basis for the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita. However, the book was never officially credited as such, and Webber officially incorporated many other historical materials as background.

The book is strongly anti-Peronist.It depicts Evita as not only manipulative but also as a promiscuous woman who made use of men to get her own power, a claim that has never been substantiated. Furthermore, Main discusses Eva's 'shameless flaunting of jewels' in great depth but deliberately undermines all that Eva did for the people of Argentina.

This book was not initially published in Argentina, because Juan Perón, Eva Perón's husband and the President of Argentina, was still in power at the time of publication. Additionally, the author, Mary Main, used the pseudonym "María Flores" in the initial publication. Only after the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical came to fame in the 1970s was the book published with Mary Main's real name on the cover. Since that time, the book has been known by the title, Evita: The Woman with the Whip.

Mary Main was an Anglo-Argentine who spent her childhood in Argentina but most of her adulthood in England. When, during adulthood, she returned to Argentina, Main was horrified to find the Peróns in power. This motivated her to write The Woman with the Whip.