The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

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. Why her? Why now?

Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. 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. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

Review
I do find that sometimes I have to be in a certain mood to read certain genres. I decided to have a short break from review books as I felt like reading something lighter, with romance and glamour and a heroine I could love. After searching my overloaded book cases I came across The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, a book I’d been looking forward to reading but just hadn’t found the time. This fitted the bill perfectly, with the glamour of Hollywood, a wonderful lead character in actress Evelyn Hugo, and a story of ambition, power, love, loss and the price of fame.

I can’t believe I haven’t read this briliant novel before!! I love the Golden Age of Hollywood Films with stars such as Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe, Vivien Lee, Grace Kelly etc, and in Evelyn Hugo Taylor Jenkins Reid has created an women who would fit in this list of beautiful and talented actresses. Like many Hollywood Legends, Evelyn came from a humble background, living with her father, after the death of her mother, in Hell’s Kitchen. Her rise to the top was difficult, especially with her Cuban heritage, but her confidence, and amition shine through. I fell a little bit in love with Evelyn as I learned more of her story, the sacrifices she made, the fact she coudn’t be with the true love of her life and how as she aged it became more difficult to get parts in films. When we first meet her she is seventy nine, still glamorous, and what endeared her to me was her openess in her interview with journalist Monique Grant, and how she had no regrets.

Throughout the book there is the mystery of Monique, why would Evelyn Hugo be willing to tell her story to a relatively unknown journalist? Monique is herself going throught a divorce, so can relate to some of Evelyn’s story, and how she finds herself questioning her feelings about the divorce. As Evelyn tells her story, Monique starts to change how she looks at life, what her own ambitions are and how to see life differently, not to make assumptions.

Taylor Jenkins Reid’s storytelling was sublime and I completely lost myself in her glamorous, and at times not so glamorous, world of film. Her characters were so real I felt they could have been part of the Hollywood set; the friendships, the rivalries and the many love affairs we all hear about. Taylor Jenkins Reid has created a character who is comfortable with her sexuality, and willing to use it to get where she wants; she is a strong woman and not someone who feels exploited, but had control over her own body. Also highlighted was the prejudice in Hollywood in those golden years, how as actresses as they got older got fewer roles and those they were offered were no longer the glamorous roles, and the prejudice between same sex relationships, which were criminal in America at that time. Taylor Jenkins Reid captured the zeitgeist of each decade, from the 1950’s to modern day, from the culture, to the important topics of the time; the Aids Epidemic and the march for Gay Rights to name just two.

To say I loved reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a huge understatement. I was immersed in the golden years of Hollywood, filled with glamour, power, ambiton and the price of fame. Evelyn Hugo, whilst fictional, was the star of this book, her beauty, engery and passion shone through in Taylor Jenkins Reid’s writing; she had star quality in bucket loads. This addictive story of love, loss, friendship and heartbrake is beautifully told and utterly captivating.