The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins ReidMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I'm not even sure where to begin. I am forever grateful to the friends and other FB book group members who recommended this book. This book was one of my Book of the Month selections almost a year ago but I passed it up for what sounded like much more exciting reads.
Something about this one didn't appeal to me...the slant of celeb gossip, most likely...or those who rated it a "great Summer beach read" (they could NOT be more wrong). Not at all my style. I prefer a book with depth of character, intensity of feeling, questions of moral conflict. (I mean, Sophie's Choice and Fahrenheit 451 are my two all-time favorite books.)
From the book's write up, all I could think was some celeb-watching, salacious, ego-driven gossipy story just wasn't my kind of read. Yet, I saw it selected as a finalist on several Books of the Year lists for 2017 and, every month, as I would go to make my BOTM selection, there it was in the list of alternate selections. So last month, I re-read the write-up and a couple of fave-list synopses and, this time, I felt intrigued.
I'm still in the midst of trying to finalize a divorce that has been an extended, painful process. As I try to hold my ground and my emotions during this time along with several other substantial emotional losses over the past few years, my emotions have been frayed and raw as I struggle with several of my own personal issues. So I started to think that maybe, just maybe, this book could be the lighter read to help me refocus my energy. Maybe it WAS exactly what I needed to read...so I marked it as one of my April 2018 selections.
When it arrived and, with encouragement and recommendation from several members in a couple of my online book groups, I decided to flag it as my next read and dove in. All I can say without spoilers for those who haven't read it is this...
This book is beautiful. It is literally breathtaking. The writing is superb. The character development unfolds throughout the book like the petals of a blossoming flower. You step into the lives of these main characters seeing them as superficial personas. As you would a person you first meet. You aren't sure who they are or what makes them tick or how they live their lives...but as the pages turn, you begin to get to know them. Not all at once. Not in any "unveiling" as when some authors reveal their inner thoughts or backstories...but in an organic way, as you would a person you've met in real life, as you come to slowly learn their body language, their nuances, their history.
You become more than just a bystander. A witness. You BECOME part of Monique (the narrator of the story and one of the two main characters in the book). You begin to see Evelyn take shape and form in front of you. You feel her energy. You share Monique's nervousness, fascination, excitement, boldness as she experiences them. As Evelyn shares her story, you are swept up along with Monique in the allure of her, the beauty, the arrogance, the strength. You understand, admire, and disdain her all at the same time. You wait to learn what could possibly have drawn Evelyn to select Monique, how her life story will reveal itself, and where this journey will take Monique (and you) as it is unveiled.
I'm not sure what more to leave with you other than this...
This is, by far, one of the most exquisitely executed books I have read in a long, long time. To say you will be swept away by emotion is an understatement...or maybe that is just me because my emotions are so rawly accessible right now. I will never forget where, the specific line, when all the pieces of the book snapped together like magnets...and I gasped and had to set the book down and cry while I processed all the intersections at once, like watching a kaleidoscope coming into focus.
I stepped into this story expecting...well, I'm not sure what I was expecting...but no matter what it was, that wasn't what I found. What I found was a book filled with glamour and beauty...with darkness and conflict...with humor and joy...but mostly of love and humanity...deep deep love...and treasuring what TRULY matters in this world.
I know this book may have hit me more deeply than many because of the rawness of my heart right now, but like Monique, I found myself coming to admire, love, loathe, and respect Evelyn Hugo in all her complicated layers...and I am, from here forward, officially an unabashed fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid and look forward to lining my shelves with the rest of her writings.
If you are looking for a book to touch...no, embrace...fill, swell, and completely manipulate your heart...and leave you with characters who will forever forward be some small part of you, get your hands on this book, add it to your TBR pile...but put it at the top...
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