Book Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Published June 2017
Atria Books

One-sentence summary:
A reporter scores the interview of a lifetime with golden-age mega movie star Evelyn Hugo, and we learn some shocking secrets about Evelyn’s past.

Evelyn Hugo embodies the untouchable, distantly beautiful glamour of early film stars.

She’s a living legend when we meet her, and scoring an interview with her is a coup the reporter of our story cannot pass up.

Evelyn is no pushover. She has a lifetime of experience in revealing only the small pieces of herself she chooses with the public. But this time, she’s telling all.

As Evelyn recounts her story, we learn that there’s a lot more going on behind the facade, and most of what we thought was real was a calculated ploy to get ahead in show business.

• She had the marriage of convenience, used only to get from point A to point B, then swiftly dropped when she got to her destination.
• There were the showmances, one of which became real, then became ugly.
• She had the stereotypical quickie marriage, here today, gone tomorrow.

I don’t want to give away all of the marriages. Each of them have their own reasons. Some are calculated. Some are for love. Others reveal her as nothing more than arm candy to the men.

And then there’s the enduring love of her life. Who is it? The answer will shock you! (Couldn’t resist – had to include a clickbaity phrase in there).

The only minus to this story: I would have liked to know Monique, the interviewer more. This is indeed Evelyn’s story, but there are more pieces to Monique that would have been nice to see.

I won’t tell you who the love of Evelyn’s life is, but it’s beautiful and complicated and wistful. It’s evocative of the silly games people play to get what they want, and in the process sometimes lose the very thing they were after.