The Seven Husbands of Eveyln Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid

Almost through my second read of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I am fascinated by the story of Eveyln Hugo much as I'm fascinated by most Hollywood in the 50's and 60's. I find myself wanting nothing more but to watch the movies described in the book and to visualize this character and put a face to the name. I'm sure they will make this book into a movie or a series or something and I'm really curious if they will do Eveyln justice and portray her as gorgeous as she's supposed to be. 

For those unaware of this book, I'll break down the basic synopsis: 

A 30 something writer working at a magazine has been given the chance of a lifetime to interview world famous and Hollywood legend Evelyn Hugo, now 79 years old. In interview style, she chronicles her life in brutal honestly, reflecting on the seven men she married and a brief history of their relationships. More often than not, she did not marry these men for love, but in order to advance her in the rise to the top, becoming the iconic actress she was known for. She is fierce and brilliant in that she knows how to navigate situations and allows herself to be used in order to use others. Spoiler alert! She meets a fellow Co-Star and falls in love with her, answering the question everyone has been asking: Who was the love of your life? It turns out it wasn't any of her many husbands, but a woman that she spent her life loving and trying to navigate their relationship in a world that would not accept them. 

There is a storyline involving the interviewer, Monique, but it's really not very interesting in comparison to the wildness that is Eveyln Hugo's life. There's also a connection between the two women that is not revealed until the very end. (Though I predicted it very early on). 

I haven't done much research on the author, Taylor Jenkins Reid, but it seems as though she is a white woman writing POV of biracial and latino women, trying to discuss what it is like to grow up being a bit different than all the other people around you. I find it interesting that she took this approach and feel a bit mixed on it. My initial thought is that all visibility is good visibility, even if it isn't coming from an author who has those experiences. It's important to expose yourself to other people's perspectives and understand what life is like from other lenses. We live in a diverse society, and the best way for us to get along is to understand our stories, our pasts, the way we grew up. In my opinion, this is the best way to relate to one another and at the end of the day we are all living this human experience together. 

My other thought is that this is a stretch when it comes to visibility, and it's not right for a white woman to attempt to write the experience of a biracial woman if she is not one. This takes away from other authors that actually are biracial and writing books on their real experiences. But at the same time, if Reid only wrote about white characters, it would make for a very bland book. Diversity is important and also makes us understand characters deeper. 

Who am I to really comment on this. Just something to think about. 

Anyways, without spoiling much of this book since I recommend reading it, there's a lot of complicated concepts especially regarding being queer during the 50's-90's. There is a very interesting dynamic in which one of Eveyln's husbands is a gay man, in love with her lover's husband. This is a highlight in the book for me because it's really sweet to see Eveyln make her own family and live happily with her girl and her bestie/husband living happily with his man. 

This book reminds me a lot of Brokeback Mountain, and I cry every time I watch that movie. I find it incredibly sad when you love someone so much and have to live a lie when society does not believe that you should be with the love of your life. Every second that you aren't with them is painful since life is short, and the time lost is devastating. My first read of this book, I was sobbing like a baby. The waterworks wouldn't stop. When you find love like the characters in this book and Brokeback Mountain, it's literally a crime to not be able to spend your life with that person. I digress. 

Evelyn is an extremely complex character, and not exactly someone to root for. She's also not the most reliable narrator. I love an unreliable narrator because it's both what is and what is not said that makes up a character. I love it. 

I'm a fan of reading books after I've seen the movies and since this book hasn't been adapted into anything, there's no actress's face that I see when I think of Evelyn. I'm really excited to see who they cast because I have a very vague image in my head. I want to see this book visually! I cannot wait! 

Read this book! Before it turns into a movie or series! Let me know your thoughts! 

xoxo 

GG