A review by sarahmatthews
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

medium-paced

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Read on audio

Narrators: Alma Cuervo, Julia Whelan and Robin Miles

Simon & Schuster

Pub. 2017, 385pp

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I adored Daisy Jones and the Six by this author a few years ago and have been meaning to read another of her books since, so when I was ill and needed something to get engrossed in I got it on audio. I’d seen the press around the TV version of Daisy Jones winning at the Emmy’s (which I’ve not seen yet) and that reminded me of her novels.

This was the perfect choice for me as the story follows the life of a 50s movie star, Evelyn Hugo, told in flashbacks to a journalist, Monique Grant.

I knew there was going to be a twist at the end because it’s alluded to as you go along, and I did find myself trying to figure out what it would be, but mostly I was loving the gossipy nature of the story of an actress trying to force her way into Hollywood using any underhand methods she can think of, and her beauty of course.sometimes you just need a decade spanning saga to take you away from the present and this book did that so well. Definitely a case of the right book at the right time.

i very much enjoyed all the references to fashion, popular culture, the depiction of celebrity scandals and the character of Evelyn herself. Glamourous, selfish and ruthless, she’s got that indefinable star quality.

You can tell that the author had the time of her life researching this book and I enjoyed all the fictitious news articles that popped up at intervals.

My hunch about the ending proved to be pretty much what I suspected but I didn’t mind a bit! Overall a great plot-driven read about the artificiality of fame.

This book was published a couple of years before Daisy Jones and the Six and it’s fascinating to see how her writing developed. The latter is, for me, a much more successful book but this one is a great read too.