The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid is a beautiful and heart-breaking book about fame, love, and identity. The main character, Monique, is a struggling journalist who is asked to do an interview with Evelyn Hugo, a famous actress who is now in the later years of her life, by the woman herself. Monique is surprised, to say the least, and is even more astonished when Hugo admits she doesn’t just want to do an interview with Monique. She wants to give Monique her whole life story and have Monique write her biography which could sell for millions of dollars. As Monique learns about Hugo’s life, many secrets are revealed, but one of the most significant ones is her identity. Hugo tells Monique that she is bisexual, and that throughout all of her marriages and husbands, she was secretly in love with another actress, Celia St. James. Near the end of Hugo’s life story, Monique asks her about her relationship with Celia:
“Did being bisexual put a strain on your relationship?” I want to make sure to portray her sexuality with all of its nuance, in all of its complexity.
“What do you mean?” she asks. There is a slight edge to her voice.
“You lost the woman you loved because of your sexual relationships with men. I think that’s relevant to your larger identity”
Evelyn listens to me and considers my words. Then she shakes her head. “No, I lost the woman I loved because I cared about being famous as much as I cared about her. It had nothing to do with my sexuality.”
“But you were using your sexuality to get the things from men that Celia couldn’t give you.”
Evelyn shakes her head even more emphatically. “There’s a difference between sexuality and sex. I used sex to get what I wanted. Sex is just an act. Sexuality is a sincere expression of desire and pleasure. That I always kept for Celia.” (pp. 270-271)
What I love about this book isn’t the scandal or the drama: I love how honest Evelyn is about her identity, and how realistic her identity is portrayed. As a person who identifies as bisexual, I found it extremely easy to relate to Evelyn, especially when she talked about her identity. Bisexual representation– just like most queer representation– is extremely lacking, so I was overjoyed to see such fantastic LGBTQ+ characters in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.