The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, A Book Review | By Muzdhan Rasheed
Visuals prepared by Trinity and Jonathan.
The first ever intimate moment between a same sex couple to be televised on media was in Cecil B. DeMille’s movie Manslaughter. Since then, media’s portrayal have increased in LGBTQ+ representation. While the backlash that individuals in the community face are still present, every step taken towards showing, expressing and normalising LGBTQ+ representation, is a step towards giving ease to future generations
The emphasis on LGBTQ+ literature being important goes hand in hand with the toxic masculine objectification of female-female relationships. With this in mind, we’re reviewing a book that breaks those stereotypes this Pride. The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo speaks of a strong-willed, independent and smart woman of colour who uses her strengths to the best of her abilities and all for her family.
Evelyn Hugo, born as Evelyn Herrera, had a difficult childhood with an absentee and violent father and a mother who passed away too soon, Evelyn had little to grasp as her own, besides her dreams and aspirations. The book ventures into each of Evelyn Hugo’s husbands, and the story that she unravels to interviewer Monique Hart, who has her own baggage burrowing her down.
Their first meeting was off to a rocky start with Monique having a clear case of foot-in-mouth disease and Evelyn having none of Monique’s ignorance, however as the last husband comes around, Monique and Evelyn’s relationship grows with a deeper understanding of each other… until it doesn’t.
The story is told in Monique’s perspective with the narrative changing to Evelyn’s point of view whenever they sit down for the interview. If anything Evelyn Hugo has, it was narrative. She took it upon herself to get up and use the assets that she knew of; her knowledge and people skills helped her attain what every individual had yearned for at the time: stardom. One may think of her as a selfish conniving woman who only thought of herself, but that’s exactly what Evelyn Hugo wants you to think of her.
Taylor Jenkins Reid, the author of this beautiful book that brought me to tears, had written out Evelyn Hugo’s flaws, characteristics, traits and conversations out in such a way that it felt like she was directly speaking to me. Reid’s writing kept me on my toes as Evelyn Hugo and Monique Hart dug deep into Evelyn’s dark history, her husbands and the love of her life.
In my years exploring LGBTQ+ literature, I don’t seem to recall coming across a woman who was the embodiment of all things that men despised from a free-thinking woman, and who was the very shadow behind one’s own failure multiple times over as well. Evelyn Hugo will teach you to accept and express your femininity in beauty, literature or your own craft and to never let anyone else put your shine out. This is definitely a book you will want to pick up this June.
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