Monique Grant, a 35-year-old biracial struggling writer gets the chance of a lifetime to write the biography of a famous movie star of the 50s, 60s and 70s.
However, she is unsure why she was chosen by the former screen goddess. Despite her fears, she goes along with it as it is her chance to get a “big break.”
The former famed actress, Evelyn Hugo (born Evelyn Herrera) takes Monique down memory lane, detailing the life she lived over the years – focusing on all her marriages.
Her first husband, Ernie Diaz whom she married at 15 was a 22-year-old electrician.
He was not particularly handsome or rich but he was the man who took her to Los Angeles.
After she met Harry Cameron (her best friend/producer) and got signed to Sunset Studios. She divorced Ernie and he was settled by the production company.
He later went on to buy a house, remarry, had kids, and grandkids. He lived a very happy life.
Don Adler was her second husband. The man she married for love. Initially, their love was a fairytale but as time went on, Don began to reveal himself.
He was a drunk, a wife-beater and a disgusting cheat. During the time Evelyn was married to him, she became friends with another young and famous actress, Celia St. James.
Evelyn and Celia met on the set of “Little Women” and they became fast friends, doing everything together.
Their friendship then progressed into a relationship after Evelyn’s divorce from Don Adler and Celia’s first Oscar win for Little Women.
However, their relationship ended after Evelyn’s super short marriage to Mick Riva.
After the gossip rag, Sub Rosa, wrote a scandalous piece on Evelyn and Celia’s friendship, hinting that it could be more – Evelyn devised a plan to throw the scent off them.
She knew that Mick Riva had always wanted to bed her, so she took him to Vegas, tempted him and made him marry her.
After their wedding, they had sex and she knew that he would ask for an annulment, which he did the next day.
Her plan worked perfectly and it threw the scent off her and Celia. But weeks later when she found out she was pregnant for Mick: Celia ended their relationship.
Evelyn’s marriage to Rex North was a business decision.
Following her divorce from Adler, she was blackballed in Hollywood and needed a comeback.
The comeback came in the form of Max Girard’s Boute-en-Train where she had to go topless. After that, she became the Hollywood darling again.
But with rumours of her next film, Anna Karenina not selling enough tickets, she had to do something to get people talking. Thus the idea of getting married to Rex North, Hollywood’s #1 Playboy.
Throughout their marriage they never had sex. They stayed in separate bedrooms while maintaining a genuine friendship. That was until Rex met the love of his life, Joy Nathan.
Evelyn and Rex came up with a plan for them to break up amicably.
Harry Cameron was her best friend all through the years. They first met at Sunset Studios and then went on to build a successful working relationship and friendship.
Harry was also gay and was in a relationship with Celia’s husband, John Braverman. Evelyn’s marriage to Harry lasted for 15 years and it was with him she had a daughter.
Her marriage to Harry was also an arrangement where Harry and John got to live together as lovers and she with Celia (their second time as a couple).
Her second time with Celia was blissful as all four of them: Celia, Harry, John and Evelyn had a blended family thing going on.
They all spent their holidays and birthdays together, raised Harry and Evelyn’s daughter, Connor together as well as paid their mortgages together.
However, Evelyn’s work reunion with both Max Girard and Don Adler ruined everything. Celia filed for divorce from John and John died of a heart attack some months later. Harry was devastated and used alcohol as a coping mechanism.
In a bid to save Harry from himself, Evelyn found a job that she felt would give her an Oscar. It was a movie by Max Girard.
She and Harry worked on it with Max and truly she won an Oscar. Harry and Max did too. Throughout the filming and the promotion of the movie, Max wooed Evelyn and she found herself falling in love with him.
So, she divorced Harry and married Max her 6th husband.
Soon after Evelyn married Max, she realised that he was only with her because she was Evelyn Hugo.
Their marriage was dead on arrival and she spent more time with Harry and Connor than she did with him. On the night Celia won her third Oscar, Evelyn wrote to Celia to congratulate her and they resumed their affair once again.
They planned to meet in Los Angeles but Max found out about them and threatened to expose Evelyn and Celia’s relationship.
When Evelyn and Celia met the third time, Celia revealed that she had Emphysema and only had about a decade to live.
Celia then comes up with a plan for her and Evelyn to live her (Celia’s) last years together. She planned that Evelyn would divorce Max, marry her brother Robert and they would move to Spain together with Harry and Connor.
When Evelyn told Harry about the plan he said that he couldn’t move because he was now in love with someone. He also came up with a plan of his own.
Harry’s plan was for him to remarry Evelyn and his new lover would marry Celia and things would go back to what it was like when John was alive.
Evelyn didn’t agree to it as she asked that they both sleep on it. He then asked her to pick him up from the home he was staying the next day but unfortunately, she found him dead with his lover in a car.
Harry was drunk and he crashed his car into a tree killing his lover. He died in the hospital.
Evelyn never took Harry’s lover to the hospital. She just framed him as the driver and rushed Harry to the hospital instead to save his name. He died some hours later.
After Harry’s funeral, Evelyn married Robert Jamieson, Celia’s brother and they all moved to a small village in Spain. There Evelyn and Celia got to live out the rest of their lives as a couple until Celia passed on six years later.
Robert also died about two decades later at age 85. He was a nice guy who enjoyed the family life Evelyn and Connor afforded him. He left all his wealth to Connor.
At the end of Evelyn’s story, she revealed the reason why she chose Monique.
The first reason was that she was the daughter of Harry’s lover, James Grant. The (black) man she framed as the drunk driver.
The second was that she found a letter from James to Harry which she felt Monique needed to know about her father.
Thoughts about The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Did I see the twist coming?
Not at all.
Maybe because I was lost in all the gossip that was Evelyn’s life.
It was so salacious that if there were no twist, I would have still been content. It was such an interesting story.
I loved every page and didn’t read anything else until I was done. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo deserves to be made into a miniseries.
5/5
Do you agree with me?