The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid is magnificent, just good old fashioned storytelling at it’s best. This book does a great thing of showing you on the surface tis is what Evelyn Hugo’s life is through the tabloids, then letting you hear in her own words what her life and marriages was truly about and it changes everything you know and perceived. I thought at the beginning that this book was headed one way focusing on the glitz and glamour of Evelyn Hugo’s life only for the story to take a turn and shows so much heart. Taylor Jenkins Reid shows us a character that we should all be jealous over then at the end you can’t help but feel sorry her and the anonymity of a normal life and the freedoms that we the reader have. It was awesome to see a book get so much hype, really and truly blow me away by how amerced I got with the character and the story.

The Plot: Evelyn Hugo is one of the bigger movie star’s of the silver age that she started in the 1950’s and a cultural icon, even though she has one an Oscar her career is over shadowed by the fact she’s been married a total of 7 times ( The Character of Evelyn Hugo is based on a amalgam of female actresses like Elizabeth Taylor and her 7 husbands, the looks and background of Marylin Monroe, and at least one screen role reflects Jane Fonda’s Klute). Evelyn’s life has been told in the tabloids but she’s never set down for an in-depth interview until now, on the eve of her daughter’s death from breast cancer, she’s donating dresses made famous to charity for breast cancer research. , and she wants more press for the event. She chooses a reporter Monique who doesn’t have much clout, so she can seemingly push her around, but Evelyn is quick to tell her there’s a specific reason she chose her and will be revealed at the end, also this piece is about dresses and will be her final interview. Evelyn reveals the truth behind all her husbands ad it will change the way the world ever thought about her and also change Monique’s life as well.

What I Liked: The way this book grabs you and puts you in Evelyn’s world, While reading it became jarring when Monique and Evelyn would talk, because I was so amerced in the story Evelyn was telling. The direction of the book was not one I was not expecting, but really enjoyed the ride and the character development that went with it. The look at the Hollywood during the mid fifties was portrayed really well, and the author clearly did a lot of research on the era. The character’s are all so well rounded and really stick with you even side character’s are memorable. The pace of this novel is incredible if I didn’t have things to do could easily have read this in one sitting.

What I Disliked: I would have wanted to see a little more Hollywood after the early years, but I know that came with the shift of focus that the novel switched to but it would’ve been nice. I did guess the reason that Monique was involved, a little early, I was still satisfied with it, but the moment when it was revealed was over too fast. I didn’t like the way Evelyn delivered the news.

Recommendations: I highly recommend this novel it’s just a great story from start to finish, and a new one to put in my favorites. If you like historical fiction this is a good well researched book on Hollywood in the 50’s and the rise of an ingenue. If you like Biographies then this reads like an in-depth Bio where the artist reveals her soul. This book has some LBGTQ character’s that are portrayed very real with all there flaws and triumphs. I rated this book a rare 5 out of 5 and added this book to my favorites.