Remember, over the summer, when Joey and I spent a weekend at the cabin and I straight devoured One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid? Fast forward to a month ago, when I picked up a new book from the library (that I’d heard really good things about), then had it sitting in my house for two weeks before getting around to reading it and then, just then, did I realize it was by the same author! I thought attention to detail was my strong suit but apparently not.
SPOILER ALERT! If you plan on reading this (and you should), scroll no further.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is, as you’d expect, centered around Evelyn Hugo, a glamorous Hollywood legend who has hand-picked an unknown journalist named Monique Grant to write the story of her life. Turns out, though she’s been married to seven different men, the real love of her life was a fellow actress named Celia St. James. This isn’t where I expected this book to go based on the title and the description on the back, but it turned out to be such a beautiful twist.
The relationship between Evelyn and Celia was so complicated and heartbreaking and I got so lost in their sometimes destructive but more often supportive and caring relationship. And more than ever, I am convinced that Taylor Jenkins Reid’s writing is absolutely wonderful. Her characters feel so well developed and the interactions between them feel real and natural. I kept finding myself on the brink of Googling images of Evelyn Hugo before remembering she wasn’t a real person.
Just a warning, I cried something like four times during the final chapters of this book. May or may have not texted Joey, who was out playing basketball, something like “COME HOME AND HOLD ME!” so I guess I was sort of emotionally invested in this story and in case you can’t tell, I wholly recommend this book 🙂
Life as Lauren 