The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: A Spellbinding Novel About a Hollywood Icon
Evelyn Hugo is one of the most complicated but fascinating characters that I‘ve met in fiction
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a historical fiction written by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Evelyn Hugo, a former Hollywood icon decides to share her life story in her late 70s through a magazine reporter named Monique Grant.
Monique was overwhelmed as she was just a junior reporter in her publication. Monique suspects that there is a reason behind Evelyn choosing her for writing her biography. Indeed there was, which when revealed at the end leaves Monique wounded for life. Would Monique hate Evelyn now? Did Evelyn want Monique to hate her for her own salvation? Was she using Monique as she used other people in her life?
Evelyn Hugo’s life was scandalous. The public has painted her as ‘the woman who married seven different men’. They did not know who the real Evelyn was. Evelyn had built that identity for herself to hide what she really was. And at the age of 79, she decides to reveal the real Evelyn for the world to know.
Evelyn Hugo- The epitome of ‘complicated’
Evelyn Hugo is one of the most complicated but fascinating characters that I’ve met in fiction. She is unapologetic. She used many people throughout her life. She had done things that are not morally right. She knows that really well too. But she does not regret anything. She says she will do it again without a second thought if given another chance.
You can be sorry about something and not regret it— Evelyn
Evelyn had no intention to whitewash her life, to portray her as a saint to the world. She wanted the world to know how evil she was. She wanted the world to hate her. Because the world no longer matters to her. She could not care less about what the world thinks of her. She lived her whole life in fear. The fear of getting rejected by the world. Now she is done. She has nothing to lose now.
Themes
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is essentially a love story. Evelyn had been married seven times. Yet she had only one true love. Evelyn wants the world to know about the love of her life.
The novel discusses many social problems like gender inequality, domestic abuse, sexual assault, rape, racism, and homophobia.
During her life, Evelyn has encountered almost all of these problems.
It was fatally dangerous for the LGBTQIA+ community to reveal their identities during those times. Evelyn had to hide who she was throughout her lifetime.
According to the novel, Hollywood was a fame game in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The actresses had to appear to be dating the most successful actors to be successful. Everyone was willing to play this game. The public needed scandals. That is what they were given. The repercussions of most were faced only by women. Women were blamed for not getting married, for not having children and for getting a divorce.
I fell in love with the way the author guides the readers through the story. You can’t help but turn the pages because you are impatient and need to know what happens next. The parallel narration of Evelyn and Monique’s story was an interesting aspect of the novel but honestly, I did not really care about what happens in Monique’s life until almost the end. The novel’s sections are named after her husbands (e.g.: “Disappointing Max Girard”), even when most husbands were nothing more than just another man for Evelyn.
I can’t describe the emotions that I felt after reading the novel. I was overwhelmed and mesmerized, yet a feeling of unexplainable sorrow ran through me. I could not help but wonder what might have prompted Evelyn to take such a cruel step at one point in her life.
This novel is a masterpiece. The author had woven the story of Evelyn with utmost care and no scope for loopholes. The social problems discussed in the novel are blended organically into the story that at no point it felt forced. It is distressing to realize that most problems discussed in the story are still relevant to today’s times.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a must-read for you if you are a sucker for romantic novels. Even if you are not a fan of love stories, I would highly recommend that you read this novel because it is not like the usual love stories that make you cringe. Instead, it makes you think. It will help you look into yourself. To find you. To go after what you want. To love the real you, no matter what the world thinks of you.
