Book Review – The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reed

Some books are unputdownable. Some books just stick with you. Forever. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is one of those books.

When a writer is tasked with writing a memoire for a famous actress, she is drawing into the world of old Hollywood intrigue. Evelyn Hugo tells her the story of her life, the love of which was not a husband at all but a woman and fellow actress. At the end of it all, the writer is thrown a curve ball that makes her question the woman before her, and her own part in the story.

This book is an all encompassing tale of what a woman will do to get herself out of her current situation. Evelyn Hugo used her beauty and her body to her advantage to get what she needed to succeed. Even when one of her husbands gets her blacklisted. Even when it means marrying a gay man so she can live near her lesbian lover. Even when it means keeps the worst of secrets or breaking her lover’s heart. She wears her manipulative nature like a statement hat at a royal event, bluntly and openly, without shame. She is the kind of woman you love to hate and want to love.

I had a hard time putting this down. Very few books remain on my shelf permanently, and even fewer get reread later, but this will be one of those books that I will pick back up in five years just for the joy of reading it again. It’s that good. A few Stephen King books have that honor. Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Robert Liparulo’s Germ. Kristen Hannah’s The Great Alone. This book by Taylor Jenkins Reed will join the ranks of my -to reread- shelf.

Five out of five stars on this masterpiece of storytelling. I haven’t a single criticism. Just read it. You won’t regret it.