A piece of literature that has earned its place as my favorite on my bookshelf is The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Written by Taylor Jenkins Reid, it follows a queer Cuban woman as she goes to Hollywood, escaping her abusive father and hoping to make a name for herself. She marries seven times, and along the way, she forms valuable friendships, struggles with her reputation, and discovers new facets of herself. Her life was scandalous and mysterious, and she decides to tell the story years later to a writer named Monique Grant, revealing everything in her own words.
This book is my favorite because of the plot twist that is hidden in the ironic title of the story — although Evelyn was married to seven men, the true love of her life was Celia St. James, an actress she had met early on. It explores the realm of LGBTQ+ representation in Old Hollywood, and it shows the disheartening side of the industry, as Evelyn and Celia have to hide their relationship for the sake of their careers. Evelyn is forced to marry some of the men as a cover for her sexuality and to deceive the tabloids into thinking that she was straight.
The book also explores matters of racism and sexism, specifically in the acting industry. Evelyn was born as Evelyn Herrera, but her surname was deemed as too Cuban, and she was pressured into changing it to Hugo, a name defined as more “white”. She is also forced to change her hair color and stop speaking Spanish, her native language, pulling her away from her roots just to put food on the table.
Having gone through seven divorces, Evelyn was painted by the tabloids as the homewrecker, whereas her male counterparts in the marriage received no shots taken at their career, even when they had hurt Evelyn physically.
This book is meaningful to me because although it was written almost seventy years ago, the topics it explores remain true in our modern world today. It has opened my eyes to what women were put through in the industry. As much as their lives were painted with glamor and riches, when faced with pressure or threats, they would be trained to keep their mouth shut, and tabloids would spin the tale however they wanted, visualizing the woman as everything the society stood against.
Evelyn Hugo is determined, cunning, and unapologetically honest about her past. Evelyn Hugo shows us that we should live our lives to the fullest, despite any hardships we may encounter on the way, and I believe that this piece of literature deserves a place on everybody’s bookshelf.
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