The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

I’ve had this book on my shelf for about three years, and am only now getting around to it. If you were around on any book-based social media circles in 2017, especially in queer circles, then you’ve heard of this book. While it’s an enjoyable read, I felt that it doesn’t necessarily deserve the public accolades and recognition that it earned.

To start with, I want to talk about the framing device. Monique Grant, a journalist going through a divorce, is tasked with writing a cover story on reclusive golden age Hollywood star, Evelyn Hugo. Hugo, now in her 70s, is auctioning off famous dresses from her career and the story is meant to be on that. However, once Grant arrives, Hugo tells her that she’ll be writing an authorized biography that details her entire life, including details about her seven husbands (hence the name). This would be a great framing device to compare and contrast Grant, a woman in her 30s at the beginning of her career who needs a big change to get further success, and Hugo, a woman who’s been long-retired and is preparing for her denouement. Unfortunately, the book barely does anything with this. While we are later given a reason why Hugo asked for Grant specifically, it affected nothing in terms of my reading experience and I didn’t care. We didn’t get enough time in the present day for me to care about Grant and her struggles or her life as a whole.

Now: the actual fictional biography content. While it’s true that Evelyn Hugo was married to seven men, we’re told fairly early on that there was actually one true love of her life: fellow actress Celia St. James. While Hugo loved some of the husbands, others were to further her career, and some were to cover her relationship with Celia so that the public and press didn’t suspect the truth. Celia is the constant throughout her life and career, even though there are various periods of their lives when they don’t speak.

I would’ve loved to find out what Evelyn and Celia liked about each other. Because we never really learn. We’re certainly told that they’re deeply in love, but I have no clue what they did together on a daily basis and outside of the bedroom. What did they talk about? We never know, and this is true of every pair of characters.

The way that Evelyn used her body and sex as currency in her career is a major theme throughout. I think it’s interesting and engaging, but it becomes all-consuming and we’re never really shown what Evelyn likes outside of sex. But at the same time we’re not supposed to see all that she’s into as being sex. But it’s the only thing I know about her! It was frustratingly executed, because I walked away from the book knowing only that Evelyn knows she’s beautiful and uses her body to her advantage, and I don’t know any of her hobbies. At all. That said, I still did enjoy the book. The pace was quick and the writing easy to digest, I just wish that the framing device was used more productively to tell us about Monique Grant and her life and career, and that we got to actually learn a bit more about Evelyn Hugo.

“I’m under absolutely no obligation to make sense to you.”