Book Review: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jekins Reid

After the somber Midnight Library by Matt Haig I wanted something frivolous. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo seems to be as good as any. A Hollywood superstar had engaged an unknown reporter to write her authorized biography. How serious can a book about one's seven husbands be, right?

Wrong. A few pages in, and I realised my mistake. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is far from frivolous. Evelyn Hugo may be rich and successful but she could not be with the only person she was in love with. Not without losing everything she had worked for.

The narrative was rich in details without going overboard. Some people may find the LGBT scenes in the book uncomfortable, and if they do, they should just skip those parts. It didn't bother me as my principle has always been not to judge and to each their own. 

Throughout the book one question continued to raise its head, why did Evelyn Hugo choose an unknown reporter to tell her life story to? The answer wasn't what I had anticipated, I had imagined a variety of reasons but the author managed to surprise me. I like that. I've always liked unexpected explanations.

At the end of the book, I had one burning question: is this an unauthorized biography of Elizabeth Taylor? My mum was a fan of Elizabeth Taylor and I had heard all about Taylor's eight marriages to seven men. So I googled.

What I discovered was, the book was indeed inspired by Elizabeth Taylor's life. Reid, the author, said it was inspired by Elizabeth Taylor & Ava Gardner's life. Little wonder the book read like a fictionalised true story.