“Don’t ignore half of me so you can fit me into a box. Don’t do that.”
4.5 Stars
Synopsis: Evelyn Hugo, Hollywood Icon, is ready to tell her story. Evelyn Hugo is ready to tell the truth. But only to Monique, an unknown reporter working fro Vivant. As Evelyn reveals all about her Hollywood life, Monique can’t help but wonder why Evelyn chose her to tell this story.
CW(May Contain Spoilers): Domestic Violence/Abuse/Implied Abortion/Alcoholism/Biphobia/homophobia/lesbophobia/Death/Grief/Terminal Illness/Racism/Sexism/Mentions of Miscarriage/Mentions of Suicide/Brief Mentions of AIDs.
Heyhey, BookNerds! Let me tell you something, I’m a little bit in love with Evelyn Hugo.
** This Review Will Contain Minor Spoiler! **
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkin Reid is a book I don’t think I can ever forget. It is a book that tugged on my heart in more ways than I expected.
But first let’s talk about the prose. The book starts with Monique’s perspective, a writer at Vivant – Evelyn wants Monique to write her story and Monique has no idea why – she is a no name writer with a life that seems to be falling apart. Once Monique meets Evelyn and starts to tell her story the narrative changes, what we get is Evelyn literally telling her life story to Monique. Evelyn’s narrative is interspersed with chapters where we go back to Monique, her questions to Evelyn, and her life. I actually really liked how this book was written, I liked how Evelyn’s story was told, I liked that she was telling it to Monique, and to us – I think it was the best way for this story to be told.
Interestingly, depsite Evelyn’s life story being told directly by herself, it isn’t as biased as expected. Evelyn, Hollywood Icon, spent her life manipulating the press to tell the story she wanted told and we see that, but in this story – the story of her life- we see Evelyn as the messy, flawed and manipulative Icon that she was. Evelyn wants the truth to be told, and she gives us it, raw and unfiltered. I personally loved that we got this from her, we see her thought processes, her reasons why, but her narrative always draws to the fact that she did not rergret her choices and actions and that she is not a ‘good person’. I found this so interesting. But, while this is Evelyn’s truth she is still playing the press to some extent, her desire to have Monique write this story, her insistence on it being told her way – we still get that Evelyn but we get her flaws and all.
The narrative and the prose works very well for the type of story being told. The pacing is great too, the chapters are short and compelling, and the mystery of each husband, what truths Evelyn want’s revealed and why she chose Monique keep you guessing throughout the story.
“You do not know how fast you have been running, how hard you have been working, how truly exhausted you are, until somewhat stands behind you and says, “It’s OK, you can fall down now. I’ll catch you.”
The plot. Evelyn is revealing her life to Monique, the truth behind her seven husbands and gives us the story of each marriage. The plot of this book is absolutely heartwrenching, I teared up so many times over the course of this book! We start with young Evelyn marrying to get into Hollywood – she’s underage but desperate to escape her situation. The story then moves through each marriage what happened in between, and in each one. Each of Evelyn’s marriages served a purpose, but each was different dynamically and many were far from perfect. I really enjoyed learning about each of her marriages, why she married, why she divorced, but it was also incredibly emotional to read about.
However, her husbands, while she had many, are not the true focus of Evelyn’s story. The true focus is Evelyn, her true love, her true identity and the lengths she went to to protect that and the career she was desperate to build. A few times Monique asks Evelyn who she loved most, who her heart truly belonged to and this story is about that. Evelyn’s story is, at it’s core, about identity – and this is deeply tied to her sexuality. The story tackles sex, sexuality, and intimacy, in the context of Evelyn’s life.
Evelyn was an Icon in the 1940’s through to the 80’s and in the time of Monique, her legacy is still very much alive. Being a woman wanting to break into Hollywood was tough enough, but a Cuban woman who later realises she is also bisexual? Well, Evelyn is left grappling with a lot of obstacles and being cutthroat is the only way to get where she wants to be. Evelyn’s journey through her own identity, and balancing it with what she wants was compelling and heartwrenching – it showed Evelyn’s more brutal side but also tackles just how had it was to be anything other than a straight white man. Evelyn becomes the blonde Bombshell Actress and she plays her part well, but watching the lengths she goes to to maintain this image and protect herself but lso further her career was a tough and emotional story.
Evelyn’s life is what makes up the most of this book, with Monique’s being more on the sideline. But, we do get some of Moniques life too – Monique herself is struggling with her own marriage that has broken up, she too wants to further her career and she is biracial woman. There are a lot of parallels drawn between Evelyn and Monique, but Monique is not cutthroat like Evelyn, she is less certain and confident. But the biggest mystery of Monique’s life is why Evelyn wanted her to write the story of her life. This was a compelling mystery that keeps you guessing. I liked Monique’s story, her slow growth as she is bolstered by Evelyn’s words.
Evelyn’s life was certainly one of movie star fame and glamour, but beneath the sparkling champagne and bold red lipstick was a messy, complex, and flawed life. A human life.
So, who was the love of Evelyn’s life? Well you’ll have to read to find out.
“Please never forget that the sun rises and sets with your smile. At least to me it does. You’re the only thing on this planet worth worshipping.”
Let’s talk about the characters because I adored them. Firstly, we have Monique, our writer. Moniques character could have been a tad more dynamic, but I appreciated the parallels between her and Evelyn, I appreciated her talent and her drive but also her heart and softness. I liked Monique and I liked that she was the one to tell Evelyn’s story.
Evelyn. Our titular character. Evelyn is gorgeous, commanding and talented. But, she is flawed, ruthless, cutthroat and manipulative. And yet, you can’t help but fall in love with Evelyn. Even in all her ruthlessness, even in her selfishness – Evelyn’s character is so real and raw and compelling that you love her anyway. Evelyn may have manipulated and seduced her way into Hollywood and stardom but her life was far from easy. Evelyn tackled and dealt with a lot, she had to hide so much of herself and do a lot of things to protect herself. There is a sympathy for Evelyn, my heart broke for her, and yet this doesn’t detract from Evelyn being messy and flawed and clever. I found Evelyn’s character to feel so real, and I loved it, I could connect with her. The world loved Evelyn Hugo, but you come out of the book loving Evelyn.
Harry. Close friend of Evelyn’s, movie producer and one of the husbands. I adored Harry. Harry is loyal and kind and sweet, but also very real and logical – he knows how the movie world works, he knows what makes or breaks a star and he knows how to play by Hollywoods rules. But in his friendship with Evelyn we see such a pure and loving friendship that wraps around your heart. Harry loves Evelyn, and Evelyn love harry, their friendship, the protective feelings they have for each other – all of it is just perfect. But, Harry is also flawed, he has secrets, he is messy too and it just makes him more real to us as readers. We can connect with Harry and feel for him.
Celia. Hollywood star, close friend to Evelyn. Celia’s character is all sweetness and charm but there is also a cruelty behind her innocent looks. I was very intrigued by Celia’s character, her talent and fame, her desire to be herself but knowing in her heart what would happen if she was. Celia and Evelyn’s relationship really tugs at your heartstrings, its complicated and messy but also very real and raw. Celia is determined and knows what she wants, but is not as cutthroat as Evelyn, she plays a Hollywood role but she is softer more emotional and while she can be cruel it is in a different way from Evelyn.
The characters in this book are all so real, flawed, messy and complex, but you love them anyway because they are human, because they are fighting for what they want and who they are. You love them because this is not just Evelyn’s story, this is a story of identity, of hiding who you are to protect yourself and your friends and your loved ones, of being who and what you want to be. This is the story of trying to be yourself in a world that will hate you for it.
The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid is a compelling, captivating read that deals with themes of identity, sex and sexuality, intimacy and pleasure, love and desire, and truth. It is full of messy and complex but very real characters, with stories to tell.
This is Evelyn’s story but it is so much deeper than that. This is Evelyn’s truth.
KBbookreviews 