Starring Role

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid is the perfect summer beach read.

Evelyn Hugo is a famous actress, and this is the story of her life as told to her biographer Monique.  Monique isn’t sure why she is being offered exclusive rights to Evelyn’s life story, but Evelyn promises that all questions will be answered by the time she is done sharing.  Monique’s own life is interspersed throughout Evelyn’s story, and their stories  do connect in a surprising way.

Evelyn worked her way into Hollywood using her beauty and sexuality.  She speaks about her life marriage by marriage.  Each marriage offers its own unique story, and in most cases, the marriages were fabrications arranged for publicity or to cover up her true self.  The truth is that Evelyn was deeply in love with another film star, Celia St. James.  Same-sex relationships were taboo in the industry during the story’s time frame.

Monique discovers that one of Evelyn’s former husbands and closest friends was involved with her dad’s death, which played a large part as to why Evelyn chose to share her life with Monique.

Evelyn’s gritty, resilient character had me rooting for her success.  With some insightful truths about life, love and marriage scattered throughout, this was a fun read for anyone interested in a peek at the potential lives of past-Hollywood stars.