Written by Taylor Jenkins Reid, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo follows the opportunity of a lifetime given to a magazine reporter, Monique Grant. 

She is tasked with unspooling the life of Evelyn Hugo, a Hollywood actress who has spent a great deal of time out of the spotlight. Told through alternating timelines, readers are able to piece together the puzzle that is Evelyn Hugo. The story is broken up into sections, as experiences with each husband are expressed in dazzling detail. 

This work will have you wanting to know what happens next, but not in the way you would expect. It is not necessarily a suspenseful read, but rather one where you would just like to know how it all ties together. Reid does a fantastic job of keeping her readers on their toes, and that was one of my favorite parts of the book. The concurring storylines take readers through a sort of a guessing game, but as they move through the chapters, people will start to realize that everything ties back into one or two elements. 

In addition to the way in which the work was written, the story touches on real life elements of 1950s Hollywood, as domestic abuse, sexuality, and the illusion of privacy are discussed. Not only are each of these elements portrayed, but they each play a vital role in the reason as to why Evelyn chose Monique. 

A few of the reasons as to why I would give these three characteristics the spotlight is as follows: 

• Evelyn experiences shortly after the beginning of her second marriage, in which she was married to Don Adler 
• Side note: domestic violence and abuse was much more prominent in 1950s Hollywood then I had originally thought, and after some research, it made me wonder what else has changed between now and then 
• The entire premise of the work revolves around the fact that while she was getting married to these numerous men, she was actually either falling in love or in a secret relationship with her “best friend”, Celia St. James 
• Harry Cameron, Evelyn’s best friend and fifth husband, is gay; this almost becomes public knowledge until Evelyn fixes the situation, but readers will find out later on that this is where Monique ties into the story
• Given the sexuality elements of our two most prominent characters outside of Monique, the word gives a little bit of a glimpse into how famous people had to hide parts of themselves in order to be accepted by the public

Not many people within the other generation understand the trials and tribulations of Hollywood royalty before the rise of social media. Privacy was respected, and the readers will see throughout the later part of Evelyn’s story disregard for her personal life due to a very specific reason. Media outlets during this time, such as newspapers or magazines, celebrated the achievements of Hollywood, and were quick to ignore the not so pretty elements of the famous. 

As the work progresses, readers will understand that Evelyn was defined by the number of husbands she had. However, there is a very specific instance in which that is no longer the case. 

This work breaks down the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, and does so in a way that allows for a range of emotions. Although it is mostly a light hearted read, it does pull at the heartstrings a little bit towards the conclusion of the book. I don’t think that I would categorize it as a sad ending, but I did feel that it was a little bit and complete. 

I would give this to work for 4.5 stars, and I do believe that it was one of Reid’s best.