By Dominique Tassell
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, soon to be a Netflix feature film, is the novel the internet can’t stop talking about. And for good reason.
The book, by Taylor Jenkins Reid, blew up on apps like Instagram and Tik Tok, and follows the story of the fictional Old Hollywood star Evelyn Hugo.
At age 79, Evelyn gives an interview to an unknown journalist named Monique Grant after staying largely out of the spotlight for many years.
It’s a fairly general consensus that this is a book you simply can’t put down. While the novel is grounded in the perspective of Monique as she interviews Evelyn, it also switches to Evelyn’s perspective as the historic events she relays to Monique unfold.
This book will no doubt sit on my list of favourite novels for years to come. I’ve already purchased Taylor Jenkins Reid’s other acclaimed novel, Daisy Jones and The Six, for which filming of the TV series is already underway.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo follows a fair few decades of content, and there was the risk that it could become consulted, but it manages to keep the flow of the story quite smooth.
There have been mixed reviews in response to some of the characters but I feel it’s refreshing to see characters, particularly female ones, be allowed to have flaws.
The twist at the end of the novel is one that I did not see coming, and that really brought home the tragedy of some aspects of the novel.
One criticism I have seen consistently is the treatment of Evelyn’s heritage throughout the novel. While some argue her denying her heritage was the point, many felt it feels like representation without the follow-through. While there is an attempt at a resolution of this aspect of Evelyn’s character, it definitely could have been done better.
That being said, this is a wonderful novel I would highly recommend. It does contain some strong themes and is for mature audiences.
