The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

“Everyone I loved is dead now. There’s no one left to protect. No one left to lie for me but me. . . . I want them to know the real story. The real me.”
“Show me the real you, then. And I’ll make sure the world understands.”

The title of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s new novel, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, should be enough to draw your attention. And believe me when I say that once you get beyond the cover, you will no doubt be hooked. The story of an aging Hollywood starlet, this is the juiciest Hollywood memoir you will never get to read.

Evelyn Hugo, once a Hollywood superstar surrounded by scandal and gossip in addition to her renowned career, has decided to tell the truth about her life and rise to fame. When she chooses Monique Grant, a relatively unknown journalist, everyone is confused, including Monique. As Monique listens to Evelyn’s life story in her glamorous NYC apartment, she wonders why on earth Evelyn has chosen her to write an authorized biography. Evelyn’s story begins in the 1950s and continues through to today, and by the end all of her reasons become clear.

I absolutely loved this book. When I chose it as my June Book of the Month Club pick, I was expecting a nice, light read. Something a bit fluffier than the heavier books I’ve read lately. This was not that book. This is a delicious novel, rich with well-developed characters and a fascinating story. Don’t we all wonder what’s really behind the Photoshopped perfection of Hollywood’s biggest stars? Reid does an exceptional job of creating a story for Evelyn that is both sad and remarkably enterprising. Her writing style is impressive, and she clearly loves every character.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was heartbreaking in a way I wasn’t expecting. I could really feel how immense yet devastating Evelyn’s life was. She had a BIG life with twists that I didn’t see coming. The ending is one of those twists, and I have to comment about it. (No spoilers, I promise!) These are the kinds of endings I love. Everything is kind of wrapped up, but far from neatly. Reid doesn’t shield her readers from the profoundly heartbreaking parts, and that is greatly appreciated.

This book is one that will stay with me for awhile. I can’t stop thinking about Evelyn and how lonely a perfectly-crafted life can really be. This was the first of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books that I’ve read, and if all of her other books are this engaging, she might just be my next binge-read author!

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo will be published on June 13!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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I hesitate to tell you much about this novel. The flap copy doesn’t sound exciting, and even Meg Wolitzer’s pedigree might not convince some people to pick this one up. But any novel that starts with a wife deciding to leave her husband of 40 years while on an airplane to Helsinki is one that probably deserves a second look. It is about marriage. It is about relationships. It is about how marriage and relationships do not always go hand in hand. (more…)

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Into the Water is Paula Hawkins’ (author of The Girl on the Train) new novel. It’s another thriller, this time about a river, known as the Drowning Pool, in a small English town. Many women have turned up dead in this river, some by choice, some by force. Into the Water focuses on Nel Abbott, a woman who has recently been found dead in the Drowning Pool, and the lengths her sister and daughter will go to to discover what really happened the night she died.

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“See, I’ve always pictured life as one of those ladders you find on playground sliding boards-a sort of ladder years where you climb higher and higher, and then, oops! You fall over the edge and others move up behind you.”

Delia Grinstead: wife, mother, runaway. The basic plot of Anne Tyler’s Ladder of Years is this: A woman, frustrated with being ignored and unappreciated by her family (“Sometimes she felt like a tiny gnat, whirring around her family’s edges.”), takes a walk down the beach one day while on a family vacation. And just keeps going. With only her bathing suit, a beach bag, and some cash, she disappears to a small town to start from scratch. (more…)