A Journey of Self in ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ by Taylor Jenkins Reid — Badass Advice from Evelyn Hugo Herself

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid is a story that explores Evelyn Hugo’s journey of self identity as a cuban bisexual woman. Evelyn Herrera changes her last name and dyes her hair blond to fit beauty standards of Hollywood. The book is structured into seven main sections, each being centered around a husband that Evelyn marries. The titles of the sections are creatively crafted to fit the narrative of the husband, such as “Poor Ernie Diaz,” the name of the first husband. The leading characters are tragically connected, which we learn as we progress in the story and learn with Evelyn Hugo, the importance of living authentically.

A dominant theme in the book features the expectations of Hollywood. Evelyn feels that in order to succeed in her work as a public figure, she needs to conceal her true character. By changing her name and hair color, she denounces her Cuban identity. Hollywood tends to glamorize the concept of being young. As Evelyn grows older, she is troubled by the fact that she will no longer be seen as what she once was. As beautiful as Evelyn is, and as beautiful as everyone tells her she is, it’s despairing how much she struggles with self worth. I think everyone can relate to the bitter sense of longing to be better than you are. It can be quite difficult to look in the mirror and see the alluring features we possess.

Much of Evelyn Hugo’s choices have been influenced by the news, tabloids, and articles written. They give us a glimpse of how the headlines we read are not always the truth. Headlines are often focused more on attention attracting, clickable, and eye catching titles instead of titles that value the real humans they are about. As a reader who sees both the perspective of the star and the general public, we should realize that we may not understand the entirety of the stories presented to us. It is clear these headlines feel limiting to the public figures since they have to constantly work to appease the public. In the beginning of the book, Evelyn asks Monique, a journalist to write her story and publish it after Evelyn’s death. The book was for her to finally have an opportunity to justify and tell the truth of her story.

A big part of Evelyn Hugo’s identity is her bisexuality. the novel takes place in the 1900’s where the topic of sexuality was still very stigmatized. Evelyn is constantly frustrated with how everyone was insistent on putting her into a box and categorizing her as either straight, or lesbian. When she feels her identity is incorrectly acknowledged, she exclaims, “don’t ignore half of me so you can fit me into a box. Don’t do that.” Whenever people found her sexuality did not fit their norms, they saw her as less than human. As a result, during that time period, many queer people were afraid of publically coming out, such as Harry Cameron’s relationship with James Grant.

The story also explores what it means to be intimate with someone. She learns that “intimacy is about truth. When you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you can stand in front of them and their response is ‘you’re safe with me’ — that’s intimacy.”

As we watch Evelyn Hugo’s story progress, we also see Monique find herself in Evelyn’s story. Here are a few of my favorite piece of advice Evelyn Hugo has given me.

• Near the end, Evelyn says the phrase “all’s well that ends well.” she is not dismissing the tragedies, but rather acknowledging that all the choices she makes are the result of her circumstances. She also tells Monique that she lived her life with absolutely no regrets, because behind every decision, she knows she makes the best choice given the information she has in the given moment. Because of this, Evelyn believes you can be sorry without regret.
• “Heartbreak is loss, divorce is a piece of paper.” Evelyn mentions that she is not sad at having to divorce. Separating from someone for a better end does not always have to be sad.
• “Make them pay you what they would pay a white man,” and “smash the patriarchy sweetheart.” Fight for what you deserve and don’t let any man stop you. “The world respects who they think should be running it,” so take what’s yours!
• “When you’re given the opportunity to change your life, be ready to do whatever it takes to make it happen. The world doesn’t give things, you take things,” as well as “do yourself a favor and learn to grab life by the balls dear, don’t be so tied up in trying to do the right thing when the smart thing is so painfully clear.” Be ready to take initiative and reach for opportunities!

Evelyn’s story is a story that teaches us to live as our true selves. Live in a way that makes you happy, not in a way that makes others happy.