In her ambitious historical novel “Red Vienna,” the first of the “Two Suitcases” trilogy, Eve Neuhaus resurrects a largely forgotten moment of 20th-century history—the socialist experiment of interwar Vienna and its eventual suppression. Set between 1929 and 1934, this first volume in a planned trilogy traces the lives of young idealists navigating the promised utopia of “Red Vienna” as fascist forces gather strength around them.
The novel opens with sixteen-year-old Gisi attending a Socialist Youth meeting at Austerlitz-Hof, one of Vienna’s grand municipal housing complexes. There she encounters Max Baum, a Jewish metalworker who crafts modern furniture from scraps while working in his father’s failing security gate business. This is the start of their budding romance, which unfolds against the backdrop of the 1929 Second International Socialist Youth Congress, a jubilant gathering of 50,000 young people from across Europe united by the rallying cry of “No More War!”
Neuhaus establishes a rich cast of characters orbiting Gisi and Max: Anna, Max’s ambitious older sister; Emil Bloch, a mathematics student from a bourgeois Jewish family; Hugo, an artist who crafts exquisite handmade books; and Edith, a passionate photographer documenting the lives of the working poor. Through their intersecting lives, Neuhaus constructs a multifaceted portrait of a society in profound transition. What distinguishes Neuhaus’s work is her granular attention to the historical conditions of “Red Vienna.” The novel vividly renders the revolutionary social housing complexes that were the crowning achievement of Vienna’s socialist government. More than mere buildings, these “people’s palaces” represented a comprehensive vision of urban living, featuring communal kitchens, libraries, schools, theaters, and medical facilities.
The novel excels when illustrating how political ideologies manifest in quotidian realities. Max’s craftsmanship represents the Bauhaus-influenced ideal of marrying artistic principles with functional design for the masses. Gisi’s medical studies embody the movement’s emphasis on education and advancement for women. As the story progresses, Neuhaus deftly traces the deteriorating political climate. The Creditanstalt bank collapse of 1931 sends shockwaves through Vienna’s economy, while Chancellor Dollfuss gradually dismantles democratic institutions, establishing an authoritarian “Catholic Corporatist State.” Meanwhile, Austrian Nazis grow increasingly bold with bombing campaigns and provocations. The historical complexity is rendered with nuance—Neuhaus resists simplistic heroes and villains, instead portraying the splintering factions, competing ideologies, and personal compromises that characterize societies in crisis.
The novel’s characterization is richly textured. Gisi emerges as intellectually formidable yet emotionally vulnerable, especially when her beloved cousins in rural Tyrol become seduced by Nazi propaganda. Max balances artistic aspirations against practical realities while navigating his Jewish identity in an increasingly antisemitic environment. Emil’s trajectory from politically disengaged mathematics student to committed anti-fascist unfolds gradually and believably. Even peripheral characters receive careful attention, like Gisi’s grandfather Josef Berger, whose complex relationship with tradition is embodied in his broken grandfather clock—which Max spends months trying to repair.
Neuhaus’s prose is unadorned yet evocative, particularly when portraying the youthful exuberance of her characters. During the 1929 Youth Congress torchlight procession, she writes: “Wave upon wave, young people flood into the massive courtyard… 50,000 voices join together to sing: ‘Arise ye pris’ners of starvation / Arise ye wretched of the earth…'” The inclusion of period songs, poetry, and political slogans creates an immersive atmosphere, capturing both the intellectual ferment and emotional pull of the socialist movement.
The novel builds toward the devastating February 1934 Austrian Civil War when government forces attacked the socialist housing complexes with artillery, killing hundreds. Neuhaus depicts this tragedy with searing clarity, shifting between multiple characters’ perspectives as they endure the three-day siege. The descriptions are harrowing: “The crowd moves forward again until they’re pushed against each other, even more tightly this time, and a group of injured people, bleeding, moaning, crying with pain, are carried or stumble on their own toward the front of the group.” By this point, readers have developed such an investment in these characters and their world that the devastation carries profound emotional significance.
If the novel has weaknesses, they stem partly from the ambitious scope of Neuhaus’s project. The first half occasionally sacrifices narrative momentum for historical context, with some scenes functioning primarily as vehicles for political exposition. Additionally, the large cast sometimes results in storylines that feel underdeveloped. Yet these are minor flaws in a work of significant historical and literary merit. “Red Vienna” transports the reader to a pivotal but often overlooked chapter in European history—the moment when democratic socialism in Vienna created a dazzling alternative vision of urban society before being crushed by authoritarian forces. Neuhaus, whose own parents were Viennese refugees according to the acknowledgments, writes with the authority of inherited memory combined with meticulous research.
The result is a work that feels both historically authentic and urgently contemporary. As democratic institutions face new threats from populist demagogues across the globe, this novel serves as a powerful reminder of democracy’s fragility. For readers interested in interwar Europe, the rise of fascism, or the often-forgotten achievements of democratic socialism, “Red Vienna” offers an illuminating journey into a past that continues to reverberate through our present. The already announced second volume, “Underground,” promises to follow these characters into exile and resistance, continuing what is shaping up to be a major contribution to historical fiction about this pivotal era.
You can buy “Red Vienna” by Eve Neuhaus here!
