The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Book Review

Title: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Genre: Adult/Historical/Romance

Rating: *****

Review: So, I know nothing about this novel, but I am reading it for 2 of the winter biannual Bibliathon challenges; Adult fiction and a cover I don’t like. I don’t like any cover that has people on them, so it is a meh cover for me. However, the synopsis sounds interesting and reminds me of Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden which is one of my all-time favourite books: “Ageing 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 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.”

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We are introduced to Monique Grant, who is an unknown reporter for a magazine who has just been handed the job of a lifetime. An interview with Evelyn Hugo, a living legend and they won’t accept anyone else. I liked the newspaper and online article and comments surrounding the current events and the synopsis mentions that Evelyn and Monique’s lives overlap at some point, so I was intrigued to see where this novel is going to go. The first meeting between Monique and Evelyn was wonderful as Monique is nervous as any normal person would be in that situation and Evelyn at nearly 80 is still as commanding as she was when she was a young starlet. It is clear to see from the beginning that Evelyn is in control of the situation right down to luring Monique there under false pretences as she wants Monique to write her biography and only Monique, who can then sell it to the highest bidder and become a multi-millionaire overnight. Monique is understandably overwhelmed by this, but she decides to take on the project none the less and despite their rocky start I have a feeling that Monique and Evelyn are going to become good friends.

As Evelyn begins to tell her story we seem to be going chronologically by husband and it will also recount everything in between. So, we start with Ernie Diaz, Evelyn’s first husband and the man that got her out of Hell’s Kitchen, New York for good. Ernie and Evelyn’s relationship was one of convenience I think, he knew someone in Hollywood and she wanted to get as far away from her life as she could, so she traded her virginity for it. On February 14, 1953, Ernie and Evelyn were married when she was only 15, after starting work in a diner Evelyn by chance bumps into Harry Cameron who gives her a deal at Sunset Studios only two weeks after laying eyes on her. Evelyn learned of the power women hold very young and used it to full effect to get exactly what she wanted. 3 years after moving to Hollywood Evelyn lands her first major role as Jo in Little Women, divorces Ernie and starts moving up in the world. Evelyn is so ruthless and slightly cold, but I love her.

As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Evelyn begins courting husband #2 Don Adler, so she can be seen with people who are stars in their own right. However, Evelyn soon finds herself falling in love and lust with Don so when he proposes she is all too happy to say yes. Evelyn and Don soon become Hollywood’s new IT couple and all eyes are on them and Evelyn loves it. I wasn’t surprised she went from husband 1 to 2 so quickly as it was the done thing at the time especially when you consider that the studios owned their stars and could make them do just about anything and if they didn’t, they could be cut, forced to take an unwanted job or unpaid leave as a penalty but Harry is happy with Evelyn’s choose and he soon becomes her life coach, best friend, and manager all in one. Don and Evelyn have a happy marriage for all of two weeks before he starts hitting her, which was saddening considering the fact that she truly cared about him. However, I intrigued by the relationship between Harry and Evelyn more than anything else as he seems to be the one man, she can’t influence with her body making him an enigma to her.

As Evelyn’s second marriage becomes abusive, she knows there is nothing she can do not only because she cares for Don, but she needs him for his fame. However, when she starts working on Little Women at long last it begins a love/hate relationship with another actress Celia St. James. We are also beginning to see similarities between Evelyn and Monique’s lives especially in the fact that they both lost a parent very young and this parental death shaped the course of their lives. As Evelyn and Don’s relationship gets more violent Evelyn finds some comfort in her friendship with Celia St. James even though there are rumours, she is a lesbian. I really like Celia because she is the person Evelyn wants to turn to when she learns that Don is cheating on her.

As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, Evelyn and Don are getting divorced, but this doesn’t work in Evelyn’s favour at all as Don gets half the house and money, but he also works in clauses that forbid Evelyn from talking about anything that happened during the marriage and the clauses don’t apply to him. In the wider implication, this basically spells the end of Evelyn’s time with Sunset and will most likely send her career down the tubes. We know this isn’t the end of Evelyn’s career, but it certainly feels like it at the moment, however, founding out who Evelyn’s true love was I found myself emotionally unprepared but very happy as for the first time she is pursuing a relationship because she truly wants it but it honestly raises more questions than answers. I was glad to see Evelyn and Monique bonding over divorce and that Monique is adapting some of Evelyn’s personality traits to make herself stronger and more proud like the woman she admires.

As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Evelyn’s career in Hollywood is tanking so she decides to go abroad to Paris, Harry helps by making some calls ahead of time and it really pays off. Evelyn ends up shooting a movie that propels her back up the ladder and slots her into a more adult position than she was before. We are also introduced to husband #3 Mick Riva, a singer who is sweet on Evelyn after seeing this movie. It was nice to see while Evelyn is in Paris, Harry leaves Sunset and the pair decide to work together especially since Evelyn is pegged for the starring role in Anna Karenina. As the spotlight narrows of Evelyn and her love, she decides to get married again to get the spotlight off them. She lures Mick Riva to Vegas where they promptly get married and the following morning, they file for an annulment, but all of this happens exactly the way Evelyn planned it and I have to hand it to the woman, she is smart, shrewd and the type of the woman I’d love to be. After the shotgun wedding to Mick Riva is dealt with Evelyn ends up breaking up with the love of her life but her troubles aren’t done yet. Evelyn hasn’t yet reclaimed her former status and Anna Karenina was over-budget, so she did the only thing she could she married the lead actor Rex North, husband #4.

As we cross into the second half of the novel, circumstances arise that means Rex and Evelyn’s sham marriage isn’t going to work anymore, but they have to find a way to divorce that won’t tank their careers, again in Evelyn’s case. Together with Harry, they come up with the plan to say they were both having affairs, Rex with joy who is now pregnant and Evelyn with Harry. Harry also suggests they get married which would give the pair of them to see the people the desire without having the press all over them. And so we move onto husband #5 Evelyn’s best friend Harry Cameron. Back in the present Monique is beginning to feel like there is more behind Evelyn’s story and that she was chosen for a specific reason that she intends to find out by the time her story is done. We are now in 1974 and Evelyn is still married to Harry, but we know she retires from acting during the 80’s so the countdown has begun since Evelyn is now 36 years old. Her marriage to Harry is good despite being what it is and I know I’m being vague but if you want details you will have to read the book. Despite this Harry and Evelyn become silent backers to one of the biggest ongoing movements in history.

As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Evelyn is in her longest and happiest marriage yet with Harry and with her true love, however, both Harry and Evelyn want children and they decide to have a baby welcoming Connor Margot Cameron into the world, Evelyn’s only child who we know has already died from breast cancer. After giving birth Evelyn wants to prove to the world, she is still a sexy woman despite being a mother now, so she accepts a role even if it means starring alongside her ex-husband Don Adler. Evelyn manages after decades to finally win her first Oscar but the cost to her personal life is devastating and even more so to Harry’s, but they have their daughter and it is enough to drive them forward, but there is another man interested in Evelyn and now she is truly alone she finds herself considering him and as we still have 2 more husbands to go, we have an idea of what is going to happen. Despite, this there seems to be something even darker lurking in Evelyn’s past that is going to come to light very soon.

As we cross into the final section of the novel, Evelyn divorced Harry to marry Max Girard, the director of some of her most influential films and honestly, he made her feel alive in a way she hadn’t for a long time and I was proud of her for seeing that he could give her what she needed at that moment but given the fact she describes him as disappointing means I don’t have high hopes for this marriage. That doesn’t matter as Connor stays with her and Harry will always be a constant in her life as the father of her daughter. Just as predicted marriage #6 goes down the pan but not in the way I expected, and I have a feeling how husband #7 came to be in the picture. However, at this time Evelyn is fifty and it is 1988 so I have a feeling that her retirement is around the corner.

After even more heartbreak, Evelyn finally retires and settles down with husband #7 Robert Jamison and her now teenage daughter in Spain glad to be away from the limelight once and for all. Despite all the success, money and fame it brought her it also brought her so much pain and I think Monique is starting to realise that, but Evelyn’s story isn’t quite done yet. In the end, I don’t know how to describe The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, words like heartbreaking, gut-wrenching, and stunning seem both too insignificant and too overbearing for such a novel.

Overall, if you read nothing else this year read Evelyn Hugo’s story, it will make you laugh and sob and everything in between. There are no words right now to describe the experience that this novel is but I do know I will be reading everything by Taylor Jenkins Reid and will be recommending this book to every other person who even mentions needing a new book.

Buy it here:

Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com

Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com