The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid was released in 2021 and was a New York Times bestseller. A film is also in the works, set to be released on Netflix.
I love Taylor Jenkins Reid books and I’d heard so many positive things about The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I really hoped it would live up to the hype.
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Plot
Reclusive hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is known for her scandalous life and her seven marriages almost as much as her successful movie career.
Evelyn is now 79 and something of a recluse. Therefore when relatively unknown magazine reporter, Monique Grant, gets the opportunity for an exclusive interview, she jumps at the chance. Upon meeting Evelyn she discovers this isn’t just an average interview. Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell all about her scandalous and glamorous life.
Monique is delighted but confused. Why has Evelyn chosen her to write her biography? Monique’s professional and personal life are in a bit of a slump and regardless of Evelyn’s reasons, Monique is determined to jumpstart her career.
And so Evelyn tells Monique her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the 1980’s Evelyn doesn’t hold back. She finally opens up about her seven husbands and the rumours surrounding them.
Evelyn’s life is a tale of ruthless ambition, great forbidden love and unexpected friendship. However, as Monique starts to develop a real respect and admiration for Evelyn, she discovers something that changes everything she thought she knew.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Book Review
I am now a fully fledged Taylor Jenkins Reid fangirl. Nobody writes about fictional female superstars like her.I would go as far as to say this is my favourite Taylor Jenkins Reid book so far, which is high praise because I adored her other books.
I loved Carrie Soto and Daisy Jones but the character of Evelyn Hugo was just fascinating. In my mind I pictured a mixture of Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor. As with all TJR characters, Evelyn is complicated and flawed. She was warm yet ruthless. Vulnerable yet cunning. I just loved her.
Monique was also an engaging character, but her story was, as you’d expect, very much a secondary one. Evelyn’s life very much took centre stage and it was hers I was most interested in.
I found the main characters in Evelyn’s story, Harry and Celia, to be really engaging. Harry in particular stole my heart. I loved his character and his friendship with Evelyn was so moving. He was her one constant in life and I could see why she adored him so much.
Themes
I loved been immersed in the old school Hollywood glamour. I thought I might become a little bored reading about each husband but I needn’t have worried. It could so easily have become repetitive, but as with the tennis matches in Carrie Soto strikes back, TJR managed to keep my interest throughout.
She cleverly used magazine articles to tell us details about Evelyn’s life and show us how she was viewed by the public at the time. This not only gives the reader a different perspective but also adds a touch of authenticity to the story. I could very easily have been persuaded that Evelyn Hugo was a real Hollywood icon, not a fictional one.
The book covers a lot of themes including domestic violence, prejudice, fame and deception and I loved how as a reader I was left feeling conflicted. Evelyn was a complicated, flawed character but I couldn’t help loving her.
I shed real tears at a few different moments within the book. I really wasn’t expecting to be moved as much as I was.
Taylor Jenkins Reid can do no wrong in my eyes, and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is up there as one of her best. I absolutely loved it.
What to read next
If you enjoyed The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo I’d definitely suggest reading more Taylor Jenkins Reid books. I’d recommend reading Malibu Rising, Daisy Jones and The Six and Carrie Soto is Back, as Mick Riva also appears in all three of these books.
I also have a soft spot for Taylor Jenkins Reid’s earlier works, so you might want to start with her debut novel, Forever Interrupted.
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