The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo | Review

Hardback: 391

Publisher: Atria Books

Published: 2017

Language: English

Rating: 4 / 5 stars 

Where on earth to begin?

I'll start by saying that The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is the most frustrating book I've ever read in my entire life, but I loved it with every fiber of my body. It was a whirlwind of emotions, good and bad alike, but oh my God, did I want to punch Evelyn in the face half the time!

She is infuriating and manipulative, but so real.

Thinking back on every book I've read with a female protagonist, this one seemed so much more real than most. She is heavily flawed and so conflicted when it comes to love.

Evelyn Hugo is 79 years old and she outlived every person that she loved. Now, she is finally prepared to share the whole truth with the world: the reasons she married 7 times, the significant other she loved the most and everything she did and gave up to be a famous Hollywood actress.

She will do so, however, on one condition: Monique Grant, an unknown magazine reporter, has to write the story.

Monique is as shocked as everyone else in the journalism community. Why her? 

Nevertheless, she does not let this unique opportunity slide.

Over the next few days, the journalist does a thorough research on the actress, digging up each and every article ever written about her, as well as watching her every movie.

”Evelyn always leaves you hoping you’ll get just a little bit more. And she always denies you.”

The actress is beautiful and she learns to use that to her advantage from a very young age. That, however, turns into a life lesson:

“People think that intimacy is about sex. But intimacy is about truth. When you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you stand in front of them bare and their response is 'you're safe with me'- that's intimacy.”

What I loved most about Evelyn is the complexity of her character. She is a determined young woman, who knows exactly what she wants and is not afraid to cross moral lines to get it. The character development is remarkable, the starlet growing from a girl scared of what people are going to think about her and her actions into a fearless woman and a doting mother, tired of hiding her true self.

“Don't ignore half of me so you can fit me into a box. Don't do that.”

The book has a great LGBTQ+ rep in my opinion which adds another layer to the story.

While I enjoyed reading all about Evelyn, Monique Grant was a completely different story. She is a dull character who can hardly make up her mind about anything and always feels sorry for herself, her chapters being very slow in my opinion.

 

All in all, the book was amazing and I adore the author's writing style. I felt like I was reading about a real person the entire time and even felt the need to google Evelyn Hugo to reassure myself that the book is pure fiction. I'm excited to read more of her work in the future. 

If historical fiction is your cup of tea, then I cannot recommend this book enough!