The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
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Hi Friends!
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid was fantastic. Let’s get into it.
Quick Synopsis. Evelyn Hugo is one of, if not THE most, famous Hollywood actress in the 1950’s. Now is the time she wants to tell her story to the world. She chooses a relatively unknown journalist, Monique Grant, to write about her. This story is told through the eyes of Evelyn as she recants her story to Monique. How she started at the bottom of the Hollywood ladder and climbed her way to the very top. Monique is confused at first as to why Evelyn wanted her to write this story, but all secrets are revealed as Evelyn gives us every detail about her life. From her gloomy start to her glamorous ending. We learn about her loves, her lies, and of course, all of her husbands.
Non-Spoiler Review:
Wow oh wow. I loved this book. This is why I love reading. The story was great from beginning to end. The ONLY thing I wasn’t a big fan of, was the lack of story with Monique. We got a little bit, but I wanted more. I’m not looking for another book, or spin off, but I just wish there was a little more of her.
When we first meet Monique we did learn that she just recently separated from her husband. I’m not sure how long they were married for, and if TJR wrote it, I don’t remember it. Goes to show how much I was invested in Monique’s story. She was then called into her boss’s office and told that THE Evelyn Hugo wants Monique to write a cover story for the magazine and she will not take any other journalist. I did love that Evelyn seemed to pick her only because she really liked her writing style in some previous pieces. Made me like Evelyn a bit before we even really got to know her.
The main thing that I really liked about this book, was the story telling itself. We go back and forth between current day with Monique and Evelyn talking about the piece, then go back to Evelyn’s point of view for her story. Kind of like we are flies on the wall when she is describing every detail. Loved that.
As we are moving through Evelyn’s story, we are introduced to each husband with a descriptor. Like, “Goddamn Don Adler” and “Clever Rex North.” This gives us a timeline as to where we are in the story and what to expect with each husband.
I will say that I was actually kind of shocked about this story. Without giving too much away, I thought that this woman was just someone who didn’t want to be alone, but we learn that each husband served a purpose. Whether that be love or the advancement of her career.
“Evelyn always leaves you hoping you’ll get just a little bit more. And she always denies you.”
BEWARE: Spoilers Ahead:
This was truly a love story and what Evelyn had to go through to get her true love. We find out relatively early on that Evelyn is bisexual. Now back in the 1950’s this was very taboo and people were arrested for a lot less. Evelyn made sure that Monique knew that she was bisexual, not just a lesbian. She truly did love Don at one point, and was attracted to men as well as women. But her one true love, was Celia St. James.
Tiny rant about Celia - she was annoying and I didn’t like her. Any time they argued (which was a lot) I seemed to side with Evelyn 99% of the time. I honestly didn’t understand why Evelyn loved her so much, but I can admit that they complimented each other. Celia was more down to earth than Evelyn was, and was ready to quit show business way sooner than Evelyn wanted to. I liked that about them. They really seemed happy - but Celia was jealous and worried about who Evelyn was with. Celia kept making comments about Evelyn liking men as well as women, I just don’t think she understood that you can be attracted to both. To be fair, the 50s was a very different time. Bisexual was not a term people were used to hearing, let alone what it meant. So Celia struggled. This was their main struggle as a couple throughout the book.
Like I mentioned before, each husband of Evelyn was for a purpose. Besides Don, Evelyn married each man to further her career or to hide the suspicions around her and Celia being more than friends.
My favorite husband of Evelyn’s was with her best friend, Harry. I just loved that whole portion of the story. Harry was a gay man as well as a Hollywood producer. See the problem? So Harry and Evelyn decided to tie the knot to keep the press from knowing their true selves. Celia also was married to a gay man, Harry’s love of his life. The 4 of them carried on for several years as a double. They each own homes not very far from each other so they can each be with their loves. It was cute. This is also when Evelyn and Harry both decided they wanted a kid. So Evelyn gave birth to her one and only daughter.
As the story goes on we learn about the struggles raising a kid with 3 other people and how Evelyn still wanted to keep acting. As time goes further on, Evelyn loses every single person she loves. Some from sickness, another from a tragic car accident. By the time Evelyn is sitting down with Monique to write her story, she is alone.
In between part of Evelyn’s story we get a tiny slice of Monique’s life. All I can remember about her is that she is a biracial daughter of a black man and a white woman. Her father passed away when she was just a child and then it was just her and her mom growing up. She was married to a guy who she shared an apartment with, but when he wanted to move to California, she did not go with him. So she stayed in New York. That’s about it. There is one final big reveal that I won’t spoil here, but it does explain why Evelyn really picked Monique to write this biography about her life.
Overall I give this story 5 stars. I loved the way it was written. I love how we got to know Evelyn and the truth behind how she made it big in Old Hollywood. I was in tears by the end. Such a beautiful story.
I did hear that there is a Netflix show coming out - I am neither excited nor interested in it. Will I watch it? Maybe. No promises. I only like to watch movies/shows from books before I actually read the book. Because then I know what the characters look like, and how to actually pronounce the names. :) I’m weird I know. But I would rather read the book more than anything. It’s the movie in my own head that’s the correct representation of the story.
Until next time!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 Stars