The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo | Taylor Jenkins Reid | Cliff Note Books

“The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” is a novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid that follows the life of Hollywood movie star Evelyn Hugo. The novel is structured around a series of interviews that Evelyn gives to an unknown journalist named Monique Grant, and through these interviews, the reader learns about Evelyn’s seven marriages and her rise to fame in the 1950s and 1960s.

Here’s a brief summary of each of the seven husbands:

1. Ernie Diaz: Evelyn’s first husband, a Latino actor who she married at the age of 15 in order to escape her abusive father.
2. Don Adler: A businessman who Evelyn married for convenience, in order to gain access to the Hollywood elite and further her acting career.
3. Mick Riva: A charismatic, womanizing actor who Evelyn falls deeply in love with and marries twice. Mick is a fictional character, but he is clearly inspired by real-life Hollywood legends like Frank Sinatra and Cary Grant.
4. Rex North: A gay Hollywood producer who marries Evelyn in order to hide his sexuality from the public. Evelyn also uses the marriage to further her career and gain control over her own film productions.
5. Harry Cameron: A Scottish actor who marries Evelyn during a time when she is struggling with addiction and depression. Harry becomes Evelyn’s closest confidant and friend.
6. Max Girard: A talented director who Evelyn marries in order to work with him on a series of successful films. However, their marriage is short-lived as Max dies of a heart attack soon after their wedding.
7. Robert Jamison: A young, handsome actor who Evelyn marries as a way to distract the public from rumors about her own sexuality. Robert is deeply in love with Evelyn, but she does not return his feelings and they eventually divorce.

Throughout the novel, we see how each of these marriages affected Evelyn’s life and career, and how they contributed to the complex, fascinating woman that she is.

CHARACTERS

1. Evelyn Hugo: The protagonist of the novel, Evelyn is a glamorous Hollywood movie star who rose to fame in the 1950s and 1960s. Throughout the book, we learn about her seven marriages and her complicated relationship with her own identity.
2. Monique Grant: The journalist who interviews Evelyn Hugo throughout the novel. Monique is struggling with her own personal and professional problems, and her conversations with Evelyn help her come to some important realizations about her life.
3. Harry Cameron: One of Evelyn’s husbands, Harry is a Scottish actor who becomes one of Evelyn’s closest friends and confidants. He is a calming presence in her life during some of her most difficult moments.
4. Celia St. James: Evelyn’s close friend and fellow movie star, Celia is known for her beauty and talent, but also for her turbulent personal life. She and Evelyn have a complicated relationship that is revealed over the course of the novel.
5. Max Girard: One of Evelyn’s husbands and a successful movie director, Max is talented but also deeply flawed. His marriage to Evelyn is short-lived but significant.
6. Robert Jamison: One of Evelyn’s husbands and a handsome young actor, Robert is deeply in love with Evelyn but she does not return his feelings. Their relationship is a source of both comfort and pain for both of them.
7. Don Adler: One of Evelyn’s husbands, Don is a wealthy businessman who helps Evelyn navigate the complex world of Hollywood politics and power.

QUOTES

1. “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.”
2. “Don’t ignore half of me so you can fit me into a box. Don’t do that.”
3. “You wonder what it is about her that makes people love her. And it’s not the way she looks, not even the way she talks. It’s everything about her. The way she sees the world. The way she looks at you. The way she looks at herself.”
4. “The thing is, people only get hurt when they’re telling the truth.”
5. “The world forgets women like us. But we’ll never forget each other.”
6. “She made herself. She found herself in the dark and then she brought herself into the light. And that’s what we all need to do.”
7. “People think that being a movie star is glamorous, but it’s not. It’s just a job like anything else, and it comes with its own set of problems. You’re a product, and everyone wants a piece of you.”

AUTHOR

Taylor Jenkins Reid is an American author born in Massachusetts in 1983. She graduated from Emerson College in Boston, where she studied writing, literature, and publishing. Jenkins Reid began her career as an author in 2011 with the publication of her debut novel, “Forever, Interrupted.”

Since then, Jenkins Reid has written several other popular novels, including “Maybe in Another Life,” “After I Do,” and “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” which was released in 2017 and became a New York Times bestseller. Her books are known for their emotional depth and focus on relationships, and they often feature strong, complex female characters.

Jenkins Reid currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and children, and she continues to write novels that explore the complexities of love, family, and identity. In addition to her work as an author, she is also a speaker and has given talks on writing and publishing at various conferences and events.

SUMMARIES

Chapter One: The novel begins with Evelyn Hugo approaching Monique Grant, a journalist, with the offer of an exclusive interview about her life. Monique is surprised by the request, as she does not typically cover celebrity news. However, she accepts the invitation and travels to Evelyn’s home for the first of many interviews.

Chapter Two: In this chapter, Evelyn begins to tell her story, starting with her childhood in Hell’s Kitchen, New York. She explains that she was born Evelyn Herrera to Cuban parents and that she changed her name to Evelyn Hugo when she began her acting career. She also reveals that her father was abusive and that she ran away from home at the age of 14.

Chapter Three: Evelyn discusses her first marriage to Ernie Diaz, a Latino actor whom she met when she was just 15 years old. She explains that she married Ernie in order to escape her father’s abuse and that the marriage was short-lived.

Chapter Four: In this chapter, Evelyn describes her second marriage to Don Adler, a wealthy businessman who helped her gain access to the Hollywood elite. She explains that she married Don for convenience and that their marriage was a business arrangement rather than a love match.

Chapter Five: Evelyn discusses her third husband, Mick Riva, a charismatic and womanizing actor who she fell deeply in love with. She explains that she married Mick twice and that their relationship was passionate but also tumultuous.

Chapter Six: This chapter focuses on Evelyn’s fourth husband, Rex North, a gay Hollywood producer who married Evelyn in order to hide his sexuality from the public. Evelyn also used the marriage to further her own career and gain control over her film productions.

Chapter Seven: Evelyn talks about her relationship with Celia St. James, another Hollywood movie star who was also one of Evelyn’s closest friends. She explains that their friendship was complicated and that they often had a tense relationship.

Chapter Eight: In this chapter, Evelyn discusses her fifth husband, Harry Cameron, a Scottish actor who she married during a difficult period in her life. Harry became one of Evelyn’s closest friends and confidants, and their relationship was one of the most important in her life.

Chapter Nine: Evelyn describes her sixth husband, Max Girard, a talented movie director who she married in order to work with him on a series of successful films. However, their marriage was short-lived, as Max died of a heart attack soon after their wedding.

Chapter Ten: This chapter focuses on Evelyn’s relationship with her daughter, Connor. Evelyn explains that she adopted Connor when she was a baby and that they had a difficult relationship throughout much of Connor’s life.

Chapter Eleven: Evelyn discusses her seventh and final husband, Robert Jamison, a young and handsome actor who she married in order to distract the public from rumors about her own sexuality. Robert was deeply in love with Evelyn, but she did not return his feelings and they eventually divorced.

Chapter Twelve: In this chapter, Evelyn explains the real reason she agreed to give Monique the interview – she wants Monique to write her biography after she dies.

Chapter Thirteen: Evelyn discusses her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and her close friendship with a black actress named Claudia.

Chapter Fourteen: This chapter focuses on Evelyn’s decision to retire from acting and her subsequent disappearance from the public eye. She explains that she wanted to live a quiet life and that she did not want to be remembered as a washed-up movie star.

Chapter Fifteen: In the final chapter, Evelyn reveals a shocking secret about her past that she has never shared with anyone before. She also tells Monique that she wants her to write the truth about her life, even if it means

revealing painful truths about her past. Evelyn tells Monique that she wants her to write the story of her life, warts and all, and that she has chosen Monique because of a personal connection between them that Evelyn reveals in the final pages of the novel.

The chapter ends with Monique reeling from the revelations that Evelyn has shared with her and wondering what she will do with the information. The novel closes with the suggestion that Monique will use the material to write the biography that Evelyn has requested, but it is left open to interpretation. The final words of the novel are Evelyn’s, as she reflects on her life and her legacy: “I am under no obligation to make sense to you.”

Overall, Chapter Fifteen is a powerful and emotional conclusion to the novel, bringing together many of the themes and plot threads that have been building throughout the book. The revelations that Evelyn shares with Monique are surprising and heart-wrenching, and they add a new layer of complexity to the already rich story of Evelyn’s life. The final words of the novel are a testament to Evelyn’s strength and independence, and they leave the reader with a sense of awe and respect for this complex and fascinating character.