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A review by bookshelfindulgence
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
5.0
I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH!
I could just leave my review there really because that pretty much sums up my feelings towards this novel, but I will elaborate purely because I just want to talk about this book. Even if it is to myself.
So The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is midway between historical fiction and contemporary, and it follows the life of an actress as she navigates Holywood culture and the relationships she forms along the way. The story is told by way of Evelyn herself, who is giving an account of her life to a journalist, Monique, with the intention of having her story published as a biography.
We come to learn that Evelyn is a deeply flawed character. Now… Usually when authors try to write flawed characters, I get major ‘Michael Scott at a job interview’ vibes. You know exactly what I mean, right? “I work too hard, I care too much, and sometimes I can be too invested in my job.” With Evelyn, though, Taylor Jenkins Reid has managed to develop an incredibly layered character who feels completely real. Evelyn is, at times, selfish, calculating, devious, proud, fake, mean-spirited, and blunt to the point of being rude. Some of this can be attributed to the environment she’s in, but she never tries to justify herself. She knows that she is flawed, and she owns it. And I love it. And the incredible thing is that these traits are still characteristic of Evelyn at the end of the book. Whilst Evelyn does have an ‘arc’, this is not a story of redemption. At least not in the usual way.
Upon reading this, you might think that Evelyn’s character is wholly unlikeable, but she isn’t. She has many admirable traits too, including her loyalty to and fierce protection of the people she loves, her determination, her strength of character, her feminism, her no-bullshit attitude. Even a couple of her flaws, in true Michael Scott style, double up as strengths. You could argue that she wouldn’t have survived the La La Land machine without her cunning, without her pride, without being fake from time to time and without breaking a few eggs. You can’t help but admire her for doing whatever she needed to do to get to the top, for being a headstrong woman in a man’s world and not having that diminished in the slightest.
You also don’t entirely blame Evelyn for some of her more selfish choices. This novel provides a very sobering insight into the dehumanisation of celebrities by Hollywood, both on the public and personal level. We see how Evelyn is treated by the press, how they dehumanise her and trivialise her very real struggles and failures, but we also see how Evelyn must essentially dehumanise herself in order to succeed in a very Darwinian industry that encourages unhealthy competition, dishonesty, and betrayal. It’s fascinating, watching Evelyn navigate that world, but it also holds a mirror up to celebrity culture and our consumption of that culture. The hook of this story, at the start, is the fact that Evelyn has been married seven times to seven different men. There’s almost a hint of judgement there, mixed in with the intrigue. I mean… Married SEVEN TIMES?! Such scandal! But with time we come to learn Evelyn’s motivations behind each of those marriages, and this just reminds you of the humanity behind these celebrities whose entire lives have been reduced to their public successes and missteps. There is a real person behind each of these celebrity personae, and this book serves as an excellent reminder of that.
Easily digestible, engaging, and tumultuous, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a gripping read that on the surface appears to simply be the tale of a woman who was married seven times, but once you look deeper, actually carries some real life lessons that are applicable to everyone. It is a reminder to be kind but never a pushover, never to judge a book by its cover, and to realise your own control over the direction your life takes.
I could just leave my review there really because that pretty much sums up my feelings towards this novel, but I will elaborate purely because I just want to talk about this book. Even if it is to myself.
So The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is midway between historical fiction and contemporary, and it follows the life of an actress as she navigates Holywood culture and the relationships she forms along the way. The story is told by way of Evelyn herself, who is giving an account of her life to a journalist, Monique, with the intention of having her story published as a biography.
We come to learn that Evelyn is a deeply flawed character. Now… Usually when authors try to write flawed characters, I get major ‘Michael Scott at a job interview’ vibes. You know exactly what I mean, right? “I work too hard, I care too much, and sometimes I can be too invested in my job.” With Evelyn, though, Taylor Jenkins Reid has managed to develop an incredibly layered character who feels completely real. Evelyn is, at times, selfish, calculating, devious, proud, fake, mean-spirited, and blunt to the point of being rude. Some of this can be attributed to the environment she’s in, but she never tries to justify herself. She knows that she is flawed, and she owns it. And I love it. And the incredible thing is that these traits are still characteristic of Evelyn at the end of the book. Whilst Evelyn does have an ‘arc’, this is not a story of redemption. At least not in the usual way.
Upon reading this, you might think that Evelyn’s character is wholly unlikeable, but she isn’t. She has many admirable traits too, including her loyalty to and fierce protection of the people she loves, her determination, her strength of character, her feminism, her no-bullshit attitude. Even a couple of her flaws, in true Michael Scott style, double up as strengths. You could argue that she wouldn’t have survived the La La Land machine without her cunning, without her pride, without being fake from time to time and without breaking a few eggs. You can’t help but admire her for doing whatever she needed to do to get to the top, for being a headstrong woman in a man’s world and not having that diminished in the slightest.
You also don’t entirely blame Evelyn for some of her more selfish choices. This novel provides a very sobering insight into the dehumanisation of celebrities by Hollywood, both on the public and personal level. We see how Evelyn is treated by the press, how they dehumanise her and trivialise her very real struggles and failures, but we also see how Evelyn must essentially dehumanise herself in order to succeed in a very Darwinian industry that encourages unhealthy competition, dishonesty, and betrayal. It’s fascinating, watching Evelyn navigate that world, but it also holds a mirror up to celebrity culture and our consumption of that culture. The hook of this story, at the start, is the fact that Evelyn has been married seven times to seven different men. There’s almost a hint of judgement there, mixed in with the intrigue. I mean… Married SEVEN TIMES?! Such scandal! But with time we come to learn Evelyn’s motivations behind each of those marriages, and this just reminds you of the humanity behind these celebrities whose entire lives have been reduced to their public successes and missteps. There is a real person behind each of these celebrity personae, and this book serves as an excellent reminder of that.
Easily digestible, engaging, and tumultuous, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a gripping read that on the surface appears to simply be the tale of a woman who was married seven times, but once you look deeper, actually carries some real life lessons that are applicable to everyone. It is a reminder to be kind but never a pushover, never to judge a book by its cover, and to realise your own control over the direction your life takes.