Synopsis: Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jump start her career.
Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.
Review: This is one of the most incredible books I have ever had the privilege of reading and well as my favorite read so far in 2022. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is raw, complex and above all utterly human.
Evelyn Hugo is a flawed and highly relatable character. Throughout her career in Hollywood she marries several times, more often out of strategy than out of love though love is certainly mixed in. This book gives insight to those marriages and the struggles that come with them. In some instances these marriages are completely fraudulent and others genuine love, though it may not be the traditional love of passion usually sought after by men and women.
Monique, the reporter, was a sitting duck in this novel, hanging on every word Evelyn Hugo spoke. Monique deals with her own struggles within the marriage department, having broken up her marriage before meeting Evelyn. Through the course of Evelyn’s life story Monique begins to find truth and insight into her own relationship. I believe this is true for the reader as well. There were several moments throughout the book where I stopped and thought about a character’s motive or revelation and how it applied in my own life. How far would I go to be with the one I love? What would I be willing to sacrifice and what would cross the line.
This book reads like a contemporary romance almost but is literary fiction. The author found a way to make the reading easy while keeping the story complex. I flew through this book in a matter of two days only putting it down when the real world responsibilities crept in.
The choices of these characters stick with you. Their struggles become your own and with realistic flaws and obstacles it's easy to put yourself in their shoes and become immersed in the old Hollywood world. On the surface this book looks to be an interview style story that goes through the life and marriages of one woman, but this book expands past all of that.
This book has elements of Feminism and LGBTQ as well. I believe this book stuck with me so much because there was representation of bisexuality in a time when not only was that entirely unheard of, but the world had yet embrace any element of the LGBTQ community.
Through The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo you get a front row seat to the love a woman is able to spread over the years. Love comes in many different forms and not all of them are passionate riding off into the sunset affairs. Evelyn’s love and marriage to Harry for instance is likely my most favorite pairing in the novel, not because they are perfect for one another (far from it) or because they are passionately head over heels in love, no. Evelyn and Harry’s marriage represents the closeness you can share with another human being. This pairing was a family created out of friends.
Why does this book stay with so many people? I think the obvious answer to this is the variety of experiences. There is a character in this brilliant novel that any one can find to relate with. The flaws and mistakes are things we all see reflected in our own lives and seeing them within someone else’s makes the reader feel less alone than they may have felt before.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. My biggest regret was reading this book knowing I didn’t have any annotation tabs to mark up the book with. Within the first few pages of this book it was evident it would end up on my favorites list, and by the end of it I was heart broken and bawling in the best way possible. If there was one book I could recommend for this year it would be to read this one. I already want to dive back in and get more in depth reading experience. This is a book I may very well revisit this year.
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