(Image Credit: Goodreads)

Evelyn Hugo is a legend. An Academy Award winning actress with a career spanning several decades, Evelyn is not only talented but gorgeous. Perhaps one of the most beautiful women from Old Hollywood. To top it all off, Evelyn has been married a legendary seven times, each marriage more fascinating than the last. However, she has been notoriously tight lipped and, as she fades into her twilight years, it appears it will remain that way.

Until journalist Monique gets an unexpected invitation, from Evelyn herself, asking for Monique to interview her. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity and despite some misgivings Monique agrees. But, the story Evelyn has for Monique is one far from what anyone could have guessed.

Perhaps like many people who have picked up this book, I was inspired to read it after all the praise and hype it’s gotten. I have said it before but I tend to be apprehensive about reading books that have received a lot of attention, given that I often find it falls short of my expectations. My most recent example of this was another loved book of Ms. Reid’s, Daisy Jones & The Six. Loved by many but one I couldn’t really see all the hype about. Despite this, I decided to give Ms. Reid another chance.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is an excellent read, with detailed story telling and an engaging storyline. As a fan of Old Hollywood, I instantly recognized the stars that inspired Ms. Reid’s characters and it was fun to read the author’s own take on what a famous celebrity like Evelyn would have felt and dreamt of. Evelyn herself is a great character; confident, talented, and a bit flawed in her choices. Nevertheless, there is something about her that instantly has the reader entranced in her story.

I am not going to comment much about Evelyn’s true love in the book, that becomes fairly obvious less than half way through. Despite knowing the answer to this question fairly early on, Ms. Reid manages to keep the reader invested in Evelyn’s story. This is partially done through another, small mystery the reader begins to theorize about half way through the story. That answer is revealed at the end and, admittedly, I found that to be the only real drawback of this story. This big surprise the reader is served didn’t leave much of a punch for me and, if anything, I found it distracting from Evelyn’s story and not necessarily needed.

The true strength in his book, however, is it’s lesson about timeless love. Regardless of your background or sexual orientation, Ms. Reid’s story about two people who love and fight for each other over the course of several decades is moving, beautiful, and something that can be applied to everyone. It was sad, yet heart warming at the same time.

I would recommend this book to anyone. It was thoroughly enjoyable, if sad at times but with excellent characters and a great romance story that will stand the test of time.

5 out of 5 stars