When author Taylor Jenkins Reid decided she wanted to write a book about a woman with seven husbands, considering she was very pregnant at the time, had I been her editor, I would have chalked it up to pregnancy madness. However, I am unimaginably grateful that her editor had the foresight to actually see the potential of this book when it was only just an idea.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo tells the story of Evelyn, a beloved movie star who has been married seven times, eight if you add the one that wasn’t legally registered. The idea of anyone getting married seven times in one lifetime is intriguing in of itself, borderline unbelievable even. The idea that this person is a female adds more dimension to the story. Evelyn narrates the story of her glamorous life that is not without its own unique set of problems. Everything from meeting her first husband to marrying the love of her life, she tells it all to young writer Monique Grant for a biography. Of course, Monique was not chosen at random and over the course of the tell-all, Monique discovers the unpleasant ties that bind her to the charismatic movie star. There’s a story behind every story. It is an intricate literary masterpiece.
In this book, Taylor Jenkins Reid shares uncomfortable truths about humanity’s progress through time, about love in all its double-edge glory, about people and forgiveness or lack thereof, and about life and all its poetic curveballs. It touches so many sensitive topics from the dark side of Hollywood to domestic violence to LGBTQ to morality without losing hold of the reader or coming off as doing too much. There is very little, if anything at all, to not like about this book.
I highly recommend. Give it a read and let me know what you think.
