• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Lieff Ink

TELL YOUR STORY

  • About
  • Services
    • Writing • Editing
    • PR
    • Writing Tutor
  • Words
  • Press
  • Blog
  • Clients
    • Client List
    • Testimonials
  • Contact
  • Book
    • Accolades
    • Reviews

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

January 17, 2022

Since this is the third book I’ve read by Taylor Jenkins Reid, I should have expected the unexpected. Daisy Jones & The Six featured a surprising twist and Malibu Rising revealed all kinds of family secrets. But Evelyn Hugo was another level of sadness, twists, and reveals. While I did enjoy the book – as I’ve said many times before, Reid is an excellent writer and knows how to create dialogue better than most – this story was my least favorite of the three.

Although it is chronologically organized around Hugo’s seven husbands, the narrative is not really about them. Instead, it’s more about what they represent. Similar to Daisy Jones, Seven Husbands features a writer who functions as a narrator. Her name is Monique and it’s clear from the beginning that the novel’s larger reveal is going to involve her. For the reader, having Monique as one of the narrators is helpful because the chapters go back and forth between Hugo’s first-person account of her life and Monique’s first-person account of interviewing Hugo.

But the larger issue is that Hugo is unlikable. As I’ve written before, readers want to root for intrinsically flawed people – to a degree. I didn’t despise Hugo, but I wasn’t rooting for her either. I felt for her in many ways because she experiences endless turmoil, but at the same time I found her hard to relate to because one minute she is cunningly ruling the world and the next minute she’s saying or doing something that makes my eyes roll into the back of my head. But she also has the guts to make tough decisions and pays a heavy price, repeatedly, for the repercussions of those decisions.

Reid always writes in detail about the beautiful women that anchor her stories. Her descriptions of the out-of-this-world beauty of Daisy Jones, Nina Riva, and Evelyn Hugo go on and on – so much so that it gets repetitive at times – and that common thread is abundantly clear throughout this novel. Hugo’s entire existence hinges on her looks and her deceptive road to fame – until tragedy strikes again and again. Stylistically, one aspect of Seven Husbands that I found clever was Reid’s use of the tabloid articles to frame the story. The articles almost function as a third narrator because they demonstrate the public’s skewed view of Hollywood glamour and all the pieces of facts and fiction that make up that view.

Another aspect of this story that resonated with me was reading a book written about a writer writing a biography. Monique says, “I liked writing about real people. I liked finding evocative ways of interpreting the real word. I liked the idea of connecting people by sharing their stories.”  I feel the same way.

Additionally, the details in Reid’s writing set her apart. During a conversation between two of the characters while one is grilling food: ‘“You need to listen to me.’ She slammed the lid of the grill shut and gestured to me with a pair of silver tongs.” I can visualize the character using tongs to get her point across and can picture exactly how this conversation is taking place.

Here’s another example:

“‘Do my eyes look puffy?’ She opened them bigger and stared at me, as if this would help me answer the question.” Because I’ve done that so many times, I laughed when I read the sentence. Once again here is Reid exemplifying her ability to insert details that paint a vivid picture.

Favorite Quotes:

“It strikes me as a unique form of power to say your own name when you know that everyone in the room, everyone in the world, already knows it.”

“Evelyn can speak casually about things of great importance…She likes to be cavalier about things that would change other people’s lives.”

“I’ve spent a very long time learning how to…spin the truth. It’s hard to undo that wiring.”

“Here’s the thing about Hollywood. It’s both a place and a feeling.”

“I told him I was someone else. And then I started getting angry that he couldn’t see who I really was.”

“I’m not judging you, if that’s what you’re worried about. God knows I’m no defender of the truth.”

“Sometimes reality comes crashing down on you. Other times reality simply waits, patiently, for you to run out of the energy it takes to deny it.”

“It’s a hard business, reconciling what the truth used to be with what the truth is now.”

“I was fishing for information that might break my heart, a flaw of the human condition.”

“Guilt is a feeling I’ve never made much peace with. I find that when it rears its head, it brings an army.”

“The moment he was done saying it, my heart had completely torn in half.”

“It cost so much, caring. I didn’t have the currency to spend on it. Instead, I walked away.”

“No one is all good or all bad. I know this, of course. I had to learn it at a young age. But sometimes it’s easy to forget just how true it is. That it applies to everyone.”

If Evelyn Hugo wrote a how-to guide on surviving Hollywood: 

“The world respects people who think they should be running it.”

“I’m under absolutely no obligation to make sense to you.”

“You never get anywhere by seeming amenable.”

“You never tell anyone anything more than you have to.”

“No one goes around throwing caution to the wind unless the wind is blowing their way.”

“You don’t go throwing your weight around unless you’re sure you’ll win.”

Laura

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Blog Archive

  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010

Footer

Laura Lieff was named Colorado Mountain College’s 2017-2018 Part Time Staff Member of the Year for her work as a writing tutor and teaching assistant.
Laura Lieff was named Colorado Mountain College’s 2017-2018 Part Time Staff Member of the Year for her work as a writing tutor and teaching assistant.

Work With Me

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
lieff-ink-logo_updated-2
  • About
  • Services
  • Words
  • Blog
  • Client List
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023 · PO Box 1228 Edwards CO 81632 · info@lauralieff.com