Women in Literature - An Insightful Review of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
“It’s always been fascinating to me how things can be simultaneously true and false, how people can be good and bad all in one, how someone can love you in a way that is beautifully selfless while serving themselves ruthlessly.” Happy Friday! We are excited to share the next installment of our mother daughter book review series, a series written by Gayatri Aryan and her daughter Aneesha Aryan. For today’s installment, Aneesha thoughtfully reviews “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo”, a romance/historical fiction novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Enjoy! (and we also have an audio version here of the review if you prefer to listen on the go)
Book: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Genre: Romance Novel, Historical Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Domestic Fiction
Publication Date: June 2017
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid. We follow the story from the perspective of Monique Grant, a journalist. Monique just joined the Vivant, a big paper and is trying to make a name for herself. Evelyn is a gorgeous Hollywood star who dominated her field. She is now 79 and everyone still loves her. Monique is half white and half black, and feels like she needs to prove herself constantly. She lost her dad at a very early age so has always leaned on her mom. She is going through a tough time with her partner, David, and is planning a split.
Evelyn has always been private, only letting on a little bit, never too much and had not talked to the press in decades. So when Vivant gets a shot to talk to Evelyn about famous dresses she wants to auction off, they jump at the chance. Monique’s boss, Frankie, tells Monique that Vivant emailed Evelyn big names to interview her and get the response that if they do not get Monique to interview her, then Evelyn is out. When Frankie informs Monique, she is confused, why would Evelyn want her? She is not a very known journalist and has no relation at all to Evelyn, but is curious and obviously excited to meet her and talk to her. The first day Monique meets Evelyn, Evelyn tells her that she does not want to work with Vivant and to talk about dresses but rather herself and her life with Monique. Not as a Vivant writer but as Monique Grant. She wants to write a biography with Monique who has no idea why but Evelyn won’t tell her. She also tells Monique she wants the book released after she is dead and won’t tell Monique a reason for that either. She responds by saying that she will understand everything by the time they are done.
Evelyn shares her heart wrenching story with us and we feel ourselves walking along with her in her journey. Monique feels immersed, finding herself constantly thinking about Evelyn’s narrative, putting herself in the story, but she doesn’t know that she actually is. This carefully crafted, moving, dramatic and nuanced story was so applicable to us all even though it was about a crazy situation. Evelyn goes through circumstances that so many people go through and even if most people don’t go through exactly what they go through there are strong lessons and places where we can take note and relate. Eveyln shares her thoughts that she has gained over her challenging life and although it is directed to Monique we can all learn from her.
I personally could not put this book down as it was so captivating and unique. While Evelyn shared her story with Monique I learned so much along with them. I put myself in her situation and gained respect for Evelyn and Reid for this beautifully built novel. I was offered new perspectives that made me sit and think right up to the last page and beyond. It connects the struggles of famous actress Evelyn in the 1950s to journalist Monique's problems in 2017 to all of our situations at any time we read this book.