This book has been talked about so much in one of the online reading groups I participate in that I had to download it and see what all of the fuss was about. I chose to listen to the audiobook, and I’m glad I did. I thoroughly enjoyed the story in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, even if there were a few times it seemed to drag.

Monique Grant is a struggling reporter, the most recent hire at the fashion magazine Vivant. Her boss, Frankie, pulls her into her office one day, wondering why the notorious Hollywood recluse, Evelyn Hugo, has demanded Monique for her first interview in decades. Monique is clueless as well. She doesn’t remember ever having met the actress, back when her father was alive and worked in the movie business. Since Evelyn has stated that it’s Monique or nothing, Frankie reluctantly assigns her to interview the aging actress.

Evelyn had just donated a dozen of her gowns to a charity auction. Monique goes into this thinking she is writing about the gowns and their donation. Evelyn greets her and tells her she wants Monique to write a book about her life. Circumstances are such that she wants to come clean about her life. The only catch is that Monique won’t be able to publish the book until after Hugo’s death.

What sounds like the best scoop ever isn’t so sure to Monique. She’s worried about losing her job at the magazine for a story that might not be publishable for years. Reluctantly, she initially agrees to Evelyn’s terms and begins taping the recitation of Hugo’s life story.

Hugo is an interesting character. She’s best known for her work in Hollywood from the 1950s through the early 1980s. She garnered an Academy Award and also picked up seven husbands along the way. Hugo seems to be a combination of Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe. She’s not innocent and intends to get what she wants. She’s willing to make the sacrifices she has to, including marrying a man who will take her away from the home she grew up in. She’s ruthless but not a bad person, just driven to get what she wants.

The question Monique thinks everyone wants answered about Evelyn Hugo is who the love of her life was. The answer is rather surprising, and the tale that takes us through that great love is complicated and convoluted. That is the case with how Hollywood was perceived back in the day. Men had to be seen as alluring to women, and women had to be alluring to men. Sex sells, and Evelyn had to play a part in her personal life as well as on the screen. Eventually she was able to be more choosy about the films she acted in, but there were still parts of her life that had to be kept in the shadows.

The mystery for me through this was why Evelyn plucked Monique from obscurity to write her story. That’s a question Monique has as well. Evelyn states that Monique must allow Evelyn to tell the story how she wants to, and then she will understand. Indeed, at the end Monique might know more than she ever wanted to know, not just about Evelyn but about her own family. The experience changes Monique, but not in the way I initially thought it would. I had suspicions that were proven to be incorrect. I think the story that takes place is actually much better.

The characters are so good. Evelyn has so many layers. She wants to be liked, but is also driven. She feels the competition from other actresses in the studio at the time, and works the system to get what she wants. If that means marrying a man she doesn’t love, she’s not above doing that. However, her second marriage is one where she thinks she has found a true love in the business. She’s someone who wants that once-in-a-lifetime love, but when it arrives, she can’t have it due to the times she lives in. I don’t even know if she could manage it now, to be honest. Her group of friends that she has who are really her friends aren’t just all about Evelyn. They have lives, ambitions, and feelings as well. Sometimes, those clash with what Evelyn thinks she has to do as an actress to be edgy.

Monique is separated from her partner and not sure what the future holds for them. Through Eleanor’s story, she also learns a great deal about herself and life. In the end, I knew, as Evelyn did, that she was going to be a very successful author thanks to this boost this will give her as well as her talent. Monique does seem to get to the heart of the story, and her conflicted view of Evelyn will likely affect how she tells it. Evelyn is confident that, in Monique’s hands, her life story will be told properly.

The audiobook has multiple narrators, which works well. We have Eleanor as a young actress and an older woman, as well as Monique and several other characters voiced differently from the narrator. It was a great performance without feeling overtly like it was a performance. I had to listen to this at the correct speed, as trying to speed it up resulted in the roles sounding less distinguishable and weird. Your mileage may vary.

In many ways, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a sad tale. In Hollywood, your reputation is everything, and Evelyn sacrifices a lot to maintain that reputation the way she has to. She states over and over that she wishes things were different, but knows that she did what she had to. In that regard, she has no regrets. It’s more wishing the world were different and would accept things that even today seem to be unacceptable.