OKAY, I GET IT. I GET THE HYPE. This book was fantastic! I didn't want to stop reading. I actually stayed up to read it, which despite being a bibliophile I usually have the self control to avoid. But this was really worth it.
The "protagonist" of the book would technically be Monique, a journalist who is commissioned by movie star Evelyn Hugo to write the story of her life. However, Evelyn, having done most of her movies before the 90's, is the narrator for most of the story. The story is broken into 7 parts - one for each of Evelyn's husbands, a topic of wide discussion among the media. This book, to me, is mostly a love story. It talks about Evelyn's One True Love, and the things she did to protect that love and her family. Her multiple marriages play into both her True Love and her goal to protect those that she loved.
Overall the plot and the writing and the characters are all fine. They're good. But what really drew me in was how the themes in this book are explored. Here you have a prominent woman from the 60's-80's, and an average woman from present day. The topics discussed in the book are presented so nonchalantly that the book has a very historical feeling to it. Let's go over some of them now!
Evelyn always leaves you hoping you’ll get just a little bit more. And she always denies you.
IDEALISM:
So this is the big one. The topic of idolizing a person without really knowing them is both present in the book and criticized. Here's Monique Grant, an average 30-something woman who sees uber-famous/gorgeous Evelyn not as a human but as fame itself. At first she finds Evelyn's generosity admirable, like there is a strict code to which celebrities stick to in order to remain rich and adored. At the same time, we see Monique come to know Evelyn as a human, who has feelings, has made mistakes and craves love. Even in Monique's narration, it's clear she views Evelyn is uniquely captivating. It's assumed that everyone in the world is as entranced by Evelyn's beauty and fame as Monique is. This, in some ways, shows some of Monique's own flaws in making assumptions about and idolizing someone who is as mortal as every non-famous person.
Another part of the book that confronts idealism is Evelyn's sixth marriage to Max Girard. This one did not make a ton of sense to me. Max and Evelyn are friends for many years before they decide to get married, and all of the sudden once the ceremony is over, Max is like "I thought being married to you would feel different." The point being made here is that Max wanted to marry Evelyn so that he could say he was married to Evelyn, to be seen with her. I didn't really latch onto this, just for the fact that Evelyn and Max were such genuine friends before they were married. Maybe they weren't. Maybe that was also a farce so that Max could say he was friends with Evelyn, but this doesn't seem plausible as Max was already the director of many of Evelyn's films so he wouldn't have needed more public interaction with her to be seen as relevant in her life.
Despite my doubts, the message is clear. Evelyn has been a victim of idealization almost her whole life. We can't say she didn't bring it on herself and exacerbate it, but still, the book is riddled with moments where Evelyn wishes desperately that people would know and love the real her, and not the image projected in the tabloids or the way she made herself seem in movies and on the red carpet. This was a large motivator for Evelyn's insistence to Monique that her biography be centered around the truth, because she was tired of deceiving people and wanted the world to finally see the real her, which she had left covered up for so long to protect her family, and yes, her fame.
You wonder what it must be like to be a man, to be so confident that the final say is yours.
MEN:
So basically, all the men in this book are trash. Just kidding, actually Harry and Robert are great. But! The men in this book, more specifically the way they treat women, is an honest testament to the time period this takes place in. Evelyn becomes, debatably, the most famous and beautiful woman in the US, and men are still out here underestimating her, using her for sex, belittling her, and judging her because of the fact that she is a woman. They love her as an object, and refuse to tolerate her as an actual human. The sad thing is, there are a lot of women TODAY that can relate to this kind of treatment. They are ready to watch Evelyn take her clothes off onscreen, or to bed her, but then they AND their wives turn around and call her a whore for it. The misogyny in this book is raw and absolutely believable at the same time that it's heartbreakingly and beautifully told. The brilliant thing is, Evelyn uses this underestimation to her advantage. She's not shy about the fact that she uses people, and what's more is that she feels completely justified using a man who's using her. During her one-night-stand-marriage with Mick Riva, she swallows her pride to let him believe that he's in control, that he has the power, and he's doing what he wants despite what Evelyn's needs, desires, and emotions are. In a twisted, sadistic way, he likes knowing that getting what he wants coincides with hurting her. AND he's so arrogant, he doesn't stop to realize that it was exactly was Evelyn wanted too! Call her manipulative, but if Evelyn can use men's leering gaze, their insatiable lust and their crude objectification of women to her advantage, that's really an admirable thing.
He’d convinced himself that his wanting me was my fault. And I believed him. Look what I do to these poor boys, I thought. And yet also, Here is my value, my power.
SEX:
I already touched a little bit on this in the men section, but Evelyn's ruthlessness in using sex to her advantage is both morbid and mesmerizing. I wouldn't call her a role model, I wouldn't say that it's a good way to get what you want, but I think it does speak to her wit, her drive, and her acting abilities. This very aspect of her personality is what made people start calling her a "whore" and a "sexpot", along with starring in raunchy roles, and yet it still works. The first time a man used her for sex, Evelyn said, "He grasped me tighter. And in that moment, I knew he was going to get what he wanted from me whether I let him or not. So I had two choices. I could do it for free. Or I could do it for free candy." Evelyn is not resolved to the fact universally aknowledged in her time period that men are owed sex by women, that women are required to perform sexual acts just because a man takes a physical interest in them. She knows that since this is something they desire, there is a prize to be gained. Again, it's morbid; and now that saying no is much less taboo, it's a much more condemnable attitude to have. But that's how sex is portrayed in almost the entirety of the book, and I don't think Evelyn was worse off for it.
There are people who see a beautiful flower and rush over to pick it. They want the flower’s beauty to be theirs, to be within their possession, their control… Don was happy to be near the flower, to appreciate the flower simply being.
MARRIAGE:
This is definitely my favorite theme in the book. I love how Evelyn describes her opinions on marriage, how she acts on them, and how Monique applied them to her own life and her own marriage. Evelyn, ever ahead of her time, firmly believes in the idea that marriage is only a piece of paper. She actually says, "Heartbreak is loss. Divorce is a piece of paper." And, despite her very intense fame and what the tabloids said, Evelyn never allowed herself to be defined by her many marriages. This is probably because she was never REALLY in love with them. This book really gets into the nitty gritty of how love is different than marriage, and that loveless marriage is not something worth salvaging. The point is this: that love can end and that's sad, but that sadness is not made worse by signing some papers making it official.
I have been married seven times, and never once has it felt half as right as this. I think that loving you has been the truest thing about me.
LOVE:
You knew this one had to be on here! It's a love story! Honestly, I thought the question "Who was the love of Evelyn Hugo's life?" would be more drawn out, that we would learn about all the husbands and then at the end she would reveal which one she was in love with. But no. It was revealed very early on, and it couldn't have been any other way because the love of Evelyn Hugo's life was not one of her husbands, but in fact Celia St. James, who appears in the majority of the story as Evelyn's lover. Evelyn and Celia have, IMO, a strange love. They don't seem compatible. One of them is a bit too controlling and the other a bit too reckless, but both of them are that way to protect their relationship from either destruction or publication. And they have this magnetic attraction, a passion so blinding that they came back to each other three different times after splitting up. It's dysfunctional, and honestly not the kind of love that I personally would want to have. But it's all a function of their lives: the intense fame, and the time period that would have their heads if anyone knew. Evelyn and Celia's love is one thing that makes this book a little bit political. Not only do they talk about LGBT protests and donations, but you really get to see how liberal Evelyn, Harry, and Celia were in multiple aspects of politics. Still, the love story between Evelyn and Celia is beautifully written if a bit enigmatic. I loved reading about their love, their sacrifices, and the family they had together.
So there we have it! Overall, I really enjoyed reading this, and I highly recommend it. There was drama, love, and suspense throughout, so I'm confident that everyone can find something they love about this book.
Let me your thoughts about The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo in the comments below.
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