Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seven-Husbands-Evelyn-Hugo-Tiktok-ebook/dp/B09FR91QBF

First published: 2021

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Genre:

·         Contemporary fiction

·         Bisexual Romance

·        Historical Fiction

Junior reporter at glossy newsmagazine Vivant, Monique Grant unexpectedly finds herself writing the valuable biography of Hollywood legend, Evelyn Hugo. Reasons why she was chosen must wait until she has heard Evelyn’s life story: from the abused Cuban girl living in Hell’s Kitchen in the 1950s to her meteoric rise to fame and notoriety in Hollywood and, of course, the details behind her seven marriages.

After hearing so much praise for this Sunday Times bestseller, I couldn’t wait to get settled in bed with my (decaf) coffee and read past midnight if necessary. And it certainly started out well. There was a great hook: why had Evelyn chosen Monique? Who was the love of her life? And at first, I admired Evelyn’s bold choices and even the way she used men in order to get where she wanted to go. I loved her quote to Monique, “When you’re given an opportunity to change your life, be ready to do whatever it takes to make it happen”, especially the irony of it later in the novel.

But by the end, I neither liked nor disliked her – I simply didn’t care, which is, of course, the last thing an author wants their readers to feel about the protagonist. I quickly grew very tired of being reminded of the almost celestial adoration cast upon Evelyn’s cleavage. It began to feel a little self-indulgent, as if the author herself had become so mesmerised by her own creation that she couldn’t help herself.

Jenkins Reid’s style is very readable and easy to follow without being exquisite, and she does a good job of changing her voice to fit with the newspaper extracts of the 50s and 60s when called upon. However, this novel is written in two first-person points of view and there was not enough distinction between the two protagonists, when really, they were worlds apart in terms of upbringing, age and where they were from.

Where Jenkins Reid did very well was with the setting. Everything was beautifully described without going over the top, and this added heaps of atmosphere. The hair, the cars, the sunshine, a time of great movies and opportunities. Given how well she did here, I was left disappointed in some scenes that Jenkins Reid did not use the setting more to amplify the mood.

Evelyn Hugo did not live by halves and so she was constantly surrounded by conflict. This, given her meteoric rise to fame, is a difficult balance to create. Some scenes, especially those of domestic abuse, felt authentic and really very scary. One beautiful quote sums up a controlling relationship perfectly: “There are people who see a beautiful flower and rush over to pick it. They want to hold it in their hands, they want to own it. They want the flower’s beauty to be theirs, to be within their possession, their control. [He] wasn’t like that. At least, not at first. [He] was happy to be near the flower, to look at the flower, to appreciate the flower simply being.” I admired how the author went into depth as to why Evelyn didn’t leave this husband immediately. After all, who wants to stay a minute longer than necessary with a wifebeater? But it would be shallow to think it’s an easy decision, when there are usually so many other things to factor into account. Other scenes of conflict felt a little contrived; a good argument between characters is when you can see logic on both sides, but on many occasions, one side of the many arguments Evelyn had with her plentiful lovers didn’t hold much water and so weakened the character and the plotline.

What kept me reading this book if so many things fell flat? Well, it is a very readable book. It’s an entertaining look at Hollywood through the ages, an irresistible voyeuristic peep at how many punches a Hollywood icon such as Evelyn Hugo can take and how many times she can get back up again. However, the main question that is dangled in front of us at the very beginning is disappointingly weak in its reveal and feels like a manufactured afterthought. I felt there needed to be more depth and attention to the “Big Reason” why Evelyn chose Monique to write her life story, given how important it is presented as.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a very readable book, but it does not have the wow factor that seems to accompany its reputation.