Book Review: ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid is a historical fiction novel that was published in 2017. It was nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction of 2017.
Evelyn Hugo is described as a gorgeous Hollywood starlet who had married several times. One can only think of another Old Hollywood star who followed the same path: Elizabeth Taylor. Jenkins Reid combined starlets from the past like Ava Gardner, Rita Hayworth and Marilyn Monroe, who all struggled to come up in the studio system.
Synopsis:
Aging 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. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart 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 a great forbidden love.
***SPOILERS BELOW***
Quotes
“Isn’t that the very definition of power? Watching people kill themselves over something that means nothing to you?”
“When given the opportunity to change your life, be ready to do whatever it takes to make it happen. The world doesn’t give things, you take things. If you learn one thing from me, it should probably be that.”
“Here’s the thing about Hollywood. It’s both a place and a feeling. If you run there, you can run toward Southern California, where the sun always shines and the grimy buildings and dirty sidewalks are replaced by palm trees and orange groves. But you also run toward the way life is portrayed in the movies.”
“I think the difference between an actress and a star is that a star feels comfortable being the very thing the world wants her to be. And I felt comfortable appearing both innocent and suggestive.”
“People think intimacy is about sex.
But intimacy is about truth.”“If Don hadn’t turned out to be a spectacular asshole, I probably never would have been capable of falling in love with someone else at all. I’m bisexual. Don’t ignore half of me so you can fit me into a box.”
“Sometimes reality comes crashing down on you. Other times reality simply waits patiently, for you to run out of the energy it takes to deny it.”
“My Dearest CeCe,
Please never forget that the sun rises and sets with your smile. At least to me, it does. You’re the only thing on this planet worth worshipping.
All my love,
Edward”“I thought people were put on earth to find other people, and I was here to find you. To find and touch your skin and smell your breath and hear all your thought. But I don’t think that’s true anymore. Because I don’t want to be meant for someone like you.”
“I was a lesbian when she loved me and a straight woman when she hated me.”
“What did I have to be good at other than being beautiful? And taking pride in your beauty is a damning act. Because you allow yourself to believe that the only thing notable about yourself is something with a very short shelf life.”
“I’ve always had to settle for a piece of you. While the world gets the other half.”
“Sex is just an act. Sexuality is a sincere expression of desire and pleasure. That I always kept for Celia.”
“Being bisexual didn’t make me disloyal. One has nothing to do with the other. Nor did it mean that Celia could only fulfill half my needs.”
“Some loves aren’t all-encompassing. Sometimes you separate because you weren’t that good together to begin with.”
“In the case of real trauma, your brain isn’t great at making memories. It’s almost as if the camera is on but no one’s recording. So afterward, when you go to review the tape, it’s all but blank.”
“I know she’s in her right mind. I know she is OK. I know she has the right to die as she lived, entirely on her own terms, leaving nothing to fate or to chance but instead holding the power of it all in her own hands.”
Themes
Tragedy & Loss
Sacrifice & Loyalty
Sexual Identity & Status
The Price of Fame
Characters
Evelyn Hugo: She is a Hollywood legend. Evelyn is beautiful, ambitious, and savvy. She knew the industry inside and out by the time she retired. She spends her life in Hollywood with a false persona she developed so she would get the roles she wanted. She hides her bisexual identity to protect her career. She finds seven husbands to protect herself and her love. At the end of her life, Evelyn looks back on her six decades in Hollywood and decides to tell her story of the one relationship she cherished with Celia St. James.
Celia St. James: A younger and more talented actress than Evelyn comes up on the scene in Little Women with Evelyn. She is young and emotional but falls deeply in love with Evelyn instantly. Celia is dubbed America’s Sweetheart and isn’t as cunning or cutthroat as Evelyn to survive in this industry. She questions Evelyn’s choice to keep her sexuality a secret, resulting in their relationship struggles for over three decades.
Monique Grant: A struggling writer for Vivant magazine and Evelyn’s interviewer. She lacks the confidence to level up in her career, but she does have the ambition. After sitting with Evelyn and listening to how she went out and got what she wanted, Monique begins to change. She takes Evelyn’s advice and becomes more forthright.
Harry Cameron: Evelyn’s producer and best friend. Evelyn and Harry were inseparable and they became a family. There was genuine platonic love between the two of them because they were both hiding their sexuality. He had only come out to Evelyn, and she would do anything to protect their peace. He is the father of Evelyn’s daughter, Connor. He is the one who guides Evelyn and supports her throughout her life.
Review
As someone who has studied Old Hollywood and was interested in the structure of the studio system, Jenkins Reid uniquely explored how actresses survived in those days. It was hard to create your path once you were in the studio system. At the time, if they found two actors with decent chemistry and a shared public persona, they would be in a string of films, much like Don Adler and Evelyn Hugo.
Women were treated so poorly in the 50s and 60s, and the only way to make a living as an actress was if you were an incredible actress or gorgeous. To make it in Hollywood back then, you had to sell the movie star persona to get noticed. And that’s what Evelyn Hugo did.
She knew why people were drawn to her. She used her charm, and sensual nature, to give people the sensation that she was the star that walked in every room. What did Evelyn Hugo go through?
Was Evelyn Hugo’s bisexual experience a strong representation?
Jenkins Reid perfectly showed bisexual representation in this novel to the point where it was hard to read. Hugo reiterated that she could love a man for some time and also love a woman. Back then, many things were black and white, including sexuality. You could only be labelled as lesbian or gay everything else wasn’t even part of the community. That’s why it was difficult for Celia (a lesbian) to understand Hugo having two sides to her. But those two preferences make up the whole of who she was.
Being bisexual is complicated, not because of romantic feelings or sexual desires, but because those who are not can’t understand it. It was heartbreaking to read about the fights between Celia and Evelyn because Celia would throw it in her face when she was angry. Once you understand that love is love across the board, the desire to be with a man or a woman remains the same.
Is The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo worth reading?
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is an incredible book. Everyone should pick it up. It doesn’t lean heavily on the romance but more so on the decisions made by Hugo to protect her family. Hugo fought for everything she had because she wanted to leave her father after her mother passed.
She knew she had the beauty and the brains to maneuver herself to the top. Jenkins Reid breaks down the novel into subsections for each husband, but the overarching love story with Celia St. James is consistent throughout every chapter.
The title of “the husband” was a distraction for the reader while Jenkins Reid explored the nature of their relationship. Not only did that combination work but the chapters were divided by Monique’s perspective and how her life would be affected by taking on writing Evelyn’s memoirs and her budding relationship with Hugo.
Evelyn Hugo wanted to be remembered as someone loyal and fought for the life she wanted. It was never about fame or money or the awards. Everything was just luck and nerve to be scrappy with the right people. Jenkins Reid showed what it was like during the studio system and how they fabricated the “movie star” personas.
Just how many were manipulated by the studios or actors themselves?
They would marry someone for press purposes so their new string of films together would be successful, or they would marry for their secret life to be protected. Everything could be manipulated for the tabloids. And then life became a tragic film that they would lead.
While reading this novel, you will begin to understand how different it was for movie stars back then because they sold you on the idea of fame, and not who they truly were.
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