The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

An epic tale spanning almost 80 years written by talented Taylor Jenkins Reid that will bring you from the splendor of Old Hollywood into the 21st century. Part of this page-turning historical fiction is written as the biography of glamorous and scandalous Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo.

You will hate and love Evelyn Hugo as her character is both flawed but still very human. She is ruthless, and ambitious and stops at nothing to reach her goal. But she also loved fiercely and deeply and bled like the rest of us.

The narrative part of the story relates to the young journalist Evelyn Hugo hires to write her memoir, Monique. Though secondary to Hugo’s story, Monique’s professional and personal lives are quite engaging too, and more so with the twist presented at the end of the book.

I thought initially that reading about all the 7 husbands might turn a bit boring and repetitive but I was so wrong. The storyline is so much more than that. It’s about the corruption of Hollywood, race, sexuality, misogyny, and family. Reid uses extracts from old magazine articles to make the story more authentic and to give the viewer an insight into public opinion at the time. These could have easily been real extracts of articles documenting Marilyn Monroe’s or Elizabeth Taylor’s careers. Playing with different forms of media is not unique in "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo", as she uses this technique in "Carrie Soto is Back" and "Daisy Jones and the Six" (which is written entirely in an interview format).

I loved that book so much. It was my first read of summer 2023 and I was so engrossed in the characters that I dreamed about them several times. It felt real. It felt authentic. I was overcome at times with the characters’ pain and tragedies.

One of the best books I have ever read I believe and this is why I gave it a 5 star review.