I had read a lot of very positive reviews of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and so it was on my TBR pile for quite a long time. I think I had given it as a present a couple of times on the strength of these good reviews and it sounded like a very fun book to read. So I decided to give it a go!

From the author of Daisy Jones & The Six in which a legendary film actress reflects on her relentless rise to the top and the risks she took, the loves she lost, and the long-held secrets the public could never imagine.

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?

Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.

Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the 80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story nears its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a mesmerizing journey through the splendour of old Hollywood into the harsh realities of the present day as two women struggle with what it means and what it costs to face the truth.

Blurb from the back of the book.

Evelyn Hugo these days is a reclusive actress. Once incredibly famous and infamous for being more daring in the roles she was willing to take on in the rather conservative 1950s and 60s. Her life was full of glamour that most people could only dream of, and so of course were very, very interested in. After living a significant part of her life very much in the public eye, Evelyn Hugo disappeared from public life for a long time.

Finally, she decided to auction off some of her most famous dresses that she had worn at various public events, like awards ceremonies, for a charity close to her heart for very personal reasons. As part of the publicity for this auction, Evelyn agrees to give one interview to a well known magazine. But she will only agree to give the interview if the interviewer is one rather unknown reporter, Monique Grant.

Monique is not sure why she has specifically been chosen, but wonders if it because of a hard hitting report she had written previously – is this why Monique has been chosen, because Evelyn likes her writing style, or because she is not afraid to write about challenging subject matter?

One of the reasons Evelyn is famous is because she had seven husbands. And people are always fascinated by a complicated love life. But Evelyn’s story is not all about the men in her life, it is about her ambition, her business sense, her drive to achieve what she sets out to do, to get what she wants out of life. It is about the battles she has along the way, the husbands are often there to mark a chapter of Evelyn’s life. She is the star of her own life, not the men she meets and marries along the way.

Throughout Evelyn’s life, despite having had seven husbands, she has had one great love of her life. And as she tells Monique her story, we find out about this great love, why it is something she has never wanted to talk about before, and why she is willing to talk about it now.

Although initially tasked with writing an article about Evelyn and the dress auction for the magazine, it is clear very quickly that Evelyn wants Monique to write her life story. Monique struggles with her ambition – wanting to write this book for herself versus her responsibilities to her employer who was paying her to write an article. She finds herself seeing parallels between her life and Evelyn’s, her ambition and Evelyn’s, between the lengths she is willing to go to to achieve the l things she wants in life, and Evelyn’s. As time goes on, Monique becomes fond of Evelyn, they form a bond with each other. Until the end of Evelyn’s story, when Evelyn reveals a connection she has with Monique’s life that was entirely unexpected and very hard for Monique to deal with, and it is clear that this is the reason she was asked to do this job.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is very much a plot driven book. Her life story is revealed through the series of interviews between her and Monique (with snippets of Monique’s story as she is going through a rather tumultuous time in her own life. You want to know what happens next, you do want to keep turning those pages. It is a great holiday read I think, as it doesn’t demand too much of you, the reader. It’s an easy read and fun. However I don’t think it will stay with me as a story for a long time. I think it is a book I have enjoyed reading, but will forget a lot of what happened.

As mentioned above I had heard a lot of good things about this book, and was very much looking forward to reading it. Did it live up to the expectations in my head? Well, I shall preface this by saying that I think it is very difficult for any film or book to live up to expectations when they have been raised, but honestly no it didn’t. It is a good and enjoyable read, and I would definitely recommend it for holiday reading, or those times in your life when there is a lot going on and you want something that is easy to read and entertaining. But it wasn’t my favourite book of the year (I read this in 2024, but have only just got round to writing up the review.)

I would give The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid 3.5 out of 5 stars.