The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo

By: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The title is eye grabbing - Seven husbands of a woman with an exotic name. She has to be a Hollywood celebrity with that name and she is. It claims to be a pseudo fiction but it can be as true as Hollywood gossip tends to. It’s fantasy and fiction, rolled together giving you the 

glimpse of a glamorous and real world. 

The protagonists are two different women from different generations with different paths intersecting with each other. They both have a quest to find themselves. While one finds the stars the other is happy with the crumbs. 

She could very well be Elizabeth Taylor who married multiple times as she believed that relationships should be carried in the sanctity of marriage. It could also be the roller coaster life of Marlyn Monroe barring the part of her early death or someone who didn’t have a good support system or sensibility to navigate the tough world of fame. 

There could be an iota of truth to all the bisexual-lesbian people and fake marriages as a cover up to the same sex relations. I don’t think you can fool the people for that long especially who crave for scandals where there is none. In a homophobic world any relationship can come under public scrutiny. However now that we have let the cat out of the bag and caricatured it, lets get the book review.

The book is well written and has strong characters arcs. It shifts from past to present as the story behind each husband opens like peels of an onion. The drama keeps you hooked like a typical Hollywood potboiler. Evelyn is a force to reckon and despite all her flaws you end up admiring her for living on her own terms, fighting the world and come out as a winner. 

One spoiler was the gay sex scenes. It becomes too mushy but that’s just me getting used to it or just the pseudo intellect in me in general clenching at most romantic mushy stuff. Either way I liked reading it and most of the drama like any typical Hollywood potboiler keeps you hooked. Evelyn is a force to reckon and despite all her flaws you end up admiring this woman living on her own terms and winning the game. 

What’s that saying? Behind every gorgeous woman, there’s a man sick of screwing her? Well, it works both ways. No one mentions that part.

I have long operated under the idea that civility is subservience.

charisma is “charm that inspires devotion” 

Intimacy is impossible without trust.

I liked writing about real people. I liked finding evocative ways of interpreting the real world. I liked the idea of connecting people by sharing their stories.

Taylor Jenkins Reid has entered the literary scene and I assume she is here to stay. Her book was up across all the book shops in India and Europe. It deals with a sensitive subject of LGBTQ in a humane and realistic way. After all love is love! 

Pls do read and share your thoughts!