A Beautifully Tragic Tale of Glamour, Fame, Love and Loss: A Review of Taylor Jenkins Reid's The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Never let anyone make you feel ordinary.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid is one of those books which make you feel a harmonious blend of so many emotions that you don’t know which of them is dominant. After finishing the book, you just sit back, trying to sink in everything you just read.

Evelyn Hugo is a lot of things. She is a legend. She is always at the top of her game. She is a go getter. She can do everything it takes to get what she wants. She is a lover. She wants to be loved. She messes up. She takes wrong decision. She hurts people. She is a human.

The story begins with magazine reporter Monique being called into the office of Frankie, her boss, only to be informed that legendary Hollywood star Evelyn Hugo finally wants to tell her life story, which has always been overcast with clouds of mystery, recluse and scandals. But she would share this with no one but Monique. Monique and her boss both are astounded by this special demand. However, Monique decides to take up this opportunity and goes ahead with it. As Evelyn tells her life story, all about her personal life, her relationships, the bitter truths of the world she has been in, and the most singular of all, her seven husbands, a dark and tragic tales begins, of everything gained and lost.

The old-world Hollywood charm is mesmerizing. The writing flows so effortlessly, you just glide on from one chapter to the next. The chapters are short and crisp, each revealing enough to want you read just one more. The shades of each character are beautifully captured. The pain, the betrayal, the love, the loss, everything starts to feel too personal to ignore. There are dark secrets hidden behind the glistering curtains of the glamour world. The limelight is demanding. To have it, you have to sacrifice something. A lot of things. Maybe everything you ever had. But how much sacrifice is worth everything that you lose? Are you truly happy with it? It really gets you thinking. Soon you start comparing Evelyn’s life to your own, and question yourself - Is everything you ever sacrificed for getting something, brought you to the path of happiness?

Evelyn doesn’t claim to be a good person. She makes it very clear that she doesn’t want her to be portrayed as an angel of a person, after living in this painfully glamourous world through decades. She wants people to know that she messed up, that she took the wrong decisions. But she doesn’t regret it. To mention a part pf the book, when she divorced one of her seven husbands, she wasn’t heartbroken, she was sad because her marriage had failed. 

Heartbreak is a loss. Divorce is a piece of paper.

That is Evelyn Hugo. When Monique asks her whether the fact that people always associated her with her seven husbands bothered her, she replies that it is her that people remembered her seven husbands by. She had always been main, not having anyone but herself take every decision of her life, however small.

The ending left me crying, heartbroken. It was like this painfully bitter-sweet world around me shattered into pieces. But it was shattered beautifully. The experience was fulfilling, captivating. I will always carry a bit of Evelyn Hugo in my heart.

My Rating – 5/5

Happy Reading! 😇

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