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The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

by Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a historical novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid that frames itself as a final confession. Reclusive, aging Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo, now in her late seventies, summons an unknown magazine… more

First published 2017 · 400 pages · English

29 quotes ★ 4.39 (4,305,556) Fiction

Quotes from the Book

People think that intimacy is about sex. But intimacy is about truth. When you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you stand in front of them bare and their response is 'you're safe with me'- that's intimacy.
4.6k
You do not know how fast you have been running, how hard you have been working, how truly exhausted you are, until somewhat stands behind you and says, “It’s OK, you can fall down now. I’ll catch you.
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Don't ignore half of me so you can fit me into a box. Don't do that.
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I’m under absolutely no obligation to make sense to you.
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It’s always been fascinating to me how things can be simultaneously true and false, how people can be good and bad all in one, how someone can love you in a way that is beautifully selfless while serving themselves ruthlessly.
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I spent half my time loving her and the other half hiding how much I loved her.
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Sometimes reality comes crashing down on you. Other times reality simply waits, patiently, for you to run out of the energy it takes to deny it.
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Heartbreak is a loss. Divorce is a piece of paper.
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Please never forget that the sun rises and sets with your smile. At least to me it does. You’re the only thing on this planet worth worshipping.
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When you're given an 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.
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Make them pay you what they would pay a white man.
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You can be sorry about something and not regret it,” Evelyn says.
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But if you have to go, then go. Go if it hurts. Go if it's time. Just go knowing you were loved, that I will never forget you, that you will live in everything Connor and I do. Go knowing I love you purely, Harry, that you were an amazing father. Go knowing I told you all my secrets. Because you were my best friend.
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Be wary of men with something to prove.
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You have to find a job that makes your heart feel big instead of one that makes it feel small.
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She always made sure the bad was outweighed by so much good. I...well, I didn't do that for her. I made it fifty-fifty. Which is about the cruelest thing you can do to someone you love, give them just enough good to make them stick through a hell of a lot of bad.
636
You wonder what it must be like to be a man, to be so confident that the final say is yours.
566
Evelyn looks at me with purpose. "Do you understand what I'm telling you? When you're given an 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. If you learn one thing from me, it should probably be that.
565
...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.
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No one is just a victim or a victor. Everyone is somewhere in between. People who go around casting themselves as one or the other are not only kidding themselves, but they’re also painfully unoriginal.
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People are messy, and love can be ugly. I’m inclined to always err on the side of compassion.
450
Do you think I'm a whore?” Harry pulled over to the side of the road and turned to me. “I think you're brilliant. I think you're tough. And I think the word whore is something ignorant people throw around when they have nothing else. … “Isn't it awfully convenient,” Harry added, “that when men make the rules, the one thing that's looked down on the most is the one thing that would bear them the greatest threat? Imagine if every single woman on the planet wanted something in exchange when she gave up her body. You'd all be ruling the place. An armed populace. Only men like me would stand a chance against you. And that's the last thing those assholes want, a world run by people like you and me.” I laughed, my eyes still puffy and tired from crying. “So am I a whore or not?” “Who knows?” he said. “We're all whores, really, in some way or another. At least in Hollywood.” … “But I like you this way. I like you impure and scrappy and formidable. I like the Evelyn Hugo who sees the world for what it is and then goes out there and wrestles what she wants out of it. So, you know, put whatever label you want on it, just don't change. That would be the real tragedy.
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And it will be the tragedy of my life that I cannot love you enough to make you mine. That you cannot be loved enough to be anyone’s.
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I'm bisexual. Don't ignore half of me so you can fit me into a box.
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Say to them, “Evelyn Hugo just wants to go home. It’s time for her to go to her daughter, and her lover, and her best friend, and her mother.” Tell them Evelyn Hugo says good-bye.
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you can’t tell a single thing about a person’s true character if you both want the same thing. That’s like a dog and a cat getting along because they both want to kill the mouse.
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And just as she was about to leave the mircophone, she said 'And to anyone tempted to kiss the TV tonight, please don't chip your tooth.
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If I want things to change, I have to change how I do things. And probably drastically.
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No … because they are just husbands. I am Evelyn Hugo. And anyways, I think once people know the truth, they will be much more interested in my wife.
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Did you know?

  • The novel is structured into seven sections, each named after one of Evelyn Hugo's husbands.
  • The protagonist, Evelyn Hugo, is a fictional Cuban American actress, not based on a single real star.
  • Despite its title, the emotional center of the book is Evelyn's relationship with fellow actress Celia St. James, not her husbands.
  • The book became a viral sensation on BookTok years after its 2017 release, driving it back onto bestseller lists.
  • A film adaptation has been in development at Netflix.

About Taylor Jenkins Reid

Taylor Jenkins Reid is an American novelist known for character-driven historical fiction set in entertainment and celebrity worlds. Her bestselling novels include The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones & The Six, Malibu Rising, and Carrie Soto Is Back.

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About the book

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a historical novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid that frames itself as a final confession. Reclusive, aging Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo, now in her late seventies, summons an unknown magazine journalist, Monique Grant, to write her authorized biography. Across seven chronological sections, each named for one of her marriages, Evelyn recounts her rise from a poor Cuban American girlhood in Hell's Kitchen to the heights of Golden Age stardom, and the strategic public romances she used to build and protect a career and a private life she could not openly claim.

The book turns its glamorous Old Hollywood setting into a study of ambition, image, and the cost of living in the closet. Its central concerns are the gap between public persona and private truth, bisexual identity and forbidden love, the bargains women make for power in a controlling industry, and the way fame distorts both memory and morality. The framing device, with Monique gradually realizing why she was chosen, lets the novel weave a present-day mystery through its sweeping decades-long portrait.

Published by Atria Books in 2017, the novel became a long-running word-of-mouth and New York Times bestseller, with its popularity surging years later through the BookTok community on TikTok. It was nominated for the 2017 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction and is frequently cited as a breakout title that cemented Reid's reputation, alongside Daisy Jones & The Six, as a chronicler of fictional celebrity lives. A screen adaptation has been in development at Netflix.

Key characters

  • Evelyn HugoAging former Hollywood star recounting her life and secrets
  • Monique GrantJournalist chosen by Evelyn to write her biography
  • Celia St. JamesActress who becomes the love of Evelyn's life
  • Harry CameronStudio producer and Evelyn's closest, most trusted friend
  • Don AdlerMovie star and one of Evelyn's husbands
  • Mick RivaSinger and one of Evelyn's husbands

Book details

First published
2017
Length
400 pages
Reading time
6 hours
Genre
Fiction
Goodreads rating
4.39 (4.3M ratings)

Critical reception

  • Became a long-running New York Times bestseller and a major word-of-mouth hit.
  • Saw a significant resurgence in popularity through the BookTok community on TikTok.
  • Nominated for the 2017 Goodreads Choice Award for Best Historical Fiction.
  • Widely credited, with Daisy Jones & The Six, for establishing Reid's reputation for fictional-celebrity narratives.

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