The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a novelised biography of a fictive movie star Evelyn Hugo. It was overall a very enjoyable read, you soon get deep into the story and it’s written in a compelling way, that makes it a total page-turner. As the story unfolds revealing the reasons behind Evelyn Hugo’s eccentric behaviour of chosing Monique as her biographer, it seems like a tad too predictable… But then I did shed a small tear reading the closing paragraphs.
But then, the book screams EVELYN HUGO and over-feminity at every page. Evelyn Hugo is more than a person and it’s an icon, estranged to Evelyn herself… And that is where the focus could have been put in a different, more empowering angle, for this astonishing woman. But her seven husbands - already mentioned in the title and subsequently giving all the structure to the novel - are in the spotlight next to this icon. Of course, it is scandalous to have had so many husbands and every gossip magazine is wondering why. But then wouldn’t it have been more empowering for Evelyn and her one true love to tell the story of the person she really is - deep inside? Maintaining the focus on the seven husbands is somewhat “reducing” the icon to her public romantic life… Is that really for what Evelyn Hugo wants to be remember for?
