The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Summary, it is a historical fiction novel by American author Taylor Jenkins Reid and published by Atria Books in 2017. The novel tells the story of the fictional Old Hollywood star Evelyn Hugo, who, at age 79, gives a final interview to an unknown journalist, Monique Grant.
The book is split into seven parts that are all named after Hugo's husbands in order to chronicle her life during the marriages and affairs she experiences; in addition, the titles feature adjectives to emphasize Hugo's feelings and opinions towards them.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Summary |
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Summary
Monique Grant is a struggling junior reporter at Vivant magazine when iconic star Evelyn Hugo requests her to conduct her first interview in decades. Monique arrives only to learn that Evelyn has something else in mind: a tell-all in which she will speak on her seven high profile marriages. Realizing that this is a career-defining opportunity, Monique accepts her role as biographer, despite her suspicions about Evelyn’s motivations.
Evelyn describes her humble beginnings in Hell’s Kitchen, her desperation to escape a life of poverty and abuse, and her willingness to use her sexuality to do so: At only 14, Evelyn marries a man who will take her to Hollywood, only to divorce him when she is discovered by Harry Cameron. Then Evelyn Herrera, she must dye her hair blonde, lose her Spanish accent, and change her name to succeed. Evelyn rises to fame with the support of Harry, and the world becomes enamored by her beauty. She soon marries Don Adler, the most popular actor in Hollywood.
Monique’s life is a stark contrast to Evelyn’s; having recently separated from her husband, David, she is struggling professionally and personally. Her editor and boss, Frankie, doubts her ability to pull off a successful story, and Monique fears that Frankie is right. However, Evelyn becomes more confident as she works with Evelyn, eventually demanding a promotion from her boss. As Evelyn continues her tale, Monique uses it as a welcome distraction from David, who is desperately trying to reach her.
Don abuses Evelyn soon after they wed. While filming Little Women, Evelyn befriends rising star Celia St James. During the premiere of their movie, Evelyn learns that Celia is a lesbian and acknowledges her feelings for her. That night, Evelyn leaves Don for Celia.
Evelyn overcomes Don’s attempts to ruin her career, but if she wants to remain in Hollywood, she must conceal her relationship with Celia. Evelyn and Celia are happy together, but Celia grows to resent Evelyn’s unwillingness to embrace her publicly. When Evelyn orchestrates a sham marriage with Mick Rivera to hide her relationship with Celia, Celia leaves and eventually marries professional football quarterback John Braverman. Over the next few years, Evelyn has a few fake marriages. The second one is to Harry, her longtime friend and producer. Harry is gay and in love with Celia’s husband, John. The four of them live together in New York blissfully for decades and raise Harry and Evelyn’s daughter, Connor.
When Evelyn betrays Celia’s trust once again, Celia leaves for the second time. Heartbroken, Evelyn marries her director Max Girard to forget Celia, but fails: She eventually leaves Max to return to Celia. Before they can start their life together, Harry kills himself and his lover while driving drunk. Evelyn is the first to find them and places the lover in the driver’s seat to protect Harry’s reputation. At the end of the interview, Evelyn reveals that this man was Monique’s father, embittering Monique against her forever.
Evelyn spends the rest of Celia’s life with her in Spain. After Celia dies, Evelyn returns to New York to be with Connor, but she dies of breast cancer soon after. Realizing that everyone she has ever loved is gone, Evelyn dedicates her life to truth, no matter how damaging it might be. When Monique leaves, Evelyn takes her own life rather than suffering through treatment for her advanced cancer.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is an intricate study of human nature which explores the true cost of fame, the commodification of women in Hollywood, and the difficulty of reconciling with one’s true identity.
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7 husbands of evelyn hugo summary |
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the 7 husbands of evelyn hugo summary |
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Questions about The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Plot
What is the short summary of the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo? The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo tells the story of old Hollywood actor Evelyn Hugo, determined to secure an A-List spot in the industry by doing whatever it takes to get there. While attempting to complete her rise to stardom, she marries seven husbands and outlives them all.
What is the main idea of Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo? The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo illustrates that a strong family bond does not come from marriage or blood relation, but from the depth of connection two or more people share.
What is inappropriate in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo? This book may be unsuitable for people under 17 years of age due to its use of sexual content, drug and alcohol use, and/or violence.
What is the plot twist of Evelyn Hugo? Evelyn finally reveals why she chose Monique: Monique's father, James, was Harry's boyfriend who was blamed for their fatal accident. Monique is angry but slowly realizes what Evelyn has said between the lines: she intends to end her own life, rather than suffer through a lengthy battle with cancer.
Does The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo have a sad ending? At 39, Connor is diagnosed with late stage breast cancer and dies 18 months later. Evelyn says that her story ends with the death of everyone she has ever loved.
Is Seven Husbands spicy? the sex scenes are incredibly spicy, so if that makes you uncomfortable, this book is not for you.
Is The Seven Wives of Evelyn Hugo LGBT? Evelyn claims herself as a bisexual woman and does not allow labels to divide her in order to fit into a binary, Harry is in a long-term monogamous relationship and Celia and Evelyn share a clear sexual relationship.
Was Evelyn Hugo in love with a woman? In the present, Evelyn tells Monique that she is bisexual and that her great love was Celia St James.
What are the warnings in Evelyn Hugo? warnings : sexual assault, rape, domestic abuse, cheating, homophobia, biphobia, alcoholism, mentions of suicide.
How old was Evelyn when she married Don? Don Adler. Don was the first man Evelyn married by heart, even though Sunset Studios had seen the two's chemistry and paired them together. They married in 1957, when Evelyn was 18.
Who is the true love of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo? her death is reported as an accidental overdose. Monique eventually publishes the introduction for her biography in Vivant, finally disclosing that the true love of Evelyn's life was none of her seven husbands, but rather Celia St. James.
Did Evelyn and Celia get married? She, Robert, Celia and the troublesome Connor move to Spain but it's good for Connor as she is inspired by Robert and goes to a great college. Celia and Evelyn secretly marry but that doesn't make Celia's death any less painful. Then Robert dies, followed by Connor.
How old was Evelyn Hugo when she met Celia? the love affair between Evelyn Hugo and Celia St. James spanned for 41 years. they first met on the set of little women in 1959 when evelyn was 21 and celia was 19/20. they spent 5 years apart until in 1967, they reunited inside a bathroom at the Academy Awards.
Is Evelyn Hugo a bad person? Hugo explicitly states that she is a bad person, she does awful things. However, there's something exciting about reading those flawed characters, so it doesn't mean you can't enjoy the book or character.
Did Evelyn Hugo get pregnant? Evelyn gets pregnant and has an abortion, and Celia, furious, leaves her. Evelyn and Celia don't speak for five years. Meanwhile in the present, Monique's estranged husband shows up at her house.
What is the climax of Evelyn Hugo? The novel's climax arrives when Evelyn frames Monique's father for a car wreck that Harry caused and that killed both men. She admits this to Monique, and in doing so, she reveals her most devastating lie, a lie that affected how Monique saw her father and his death for her entire life.
Why did Evelyn get divorced? the TLC personality opened up about the end of their relationship, which she claimed was toxic. “I've endured mental and emotional abuse because of a passionless, sexless and narcissistic relationship,” the New Hampshire native, 23, claimed in a statement to Us Weekly in November 2021.
What is Evelyn Hugo's real name? Evelyn Elena Herrera, Born Evelyn Elena Herrera in 1938, the daughter of Cuban immigrants, Hugo grew up in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City.