Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
Year published: 2018
Category: Adult fiction
Pages: 400
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Location: (my 2026 Google Reading map): USA (CA, NY), Spain
Summary: Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now?
Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.
Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ‘80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.
Review: I've read a number of novels by Taylor Jenkins Reid and liked them all. Here are links to my reviews: Carrie Soto is Back, Daisy Jones and the Six, Malibu Rising, and Atmosphere.
Julia Whelan is such a good narrator. In fact, she is why I chose this book. I wasn't sure what audiobook to choose so searched for books narrated by Whelan and chose this one. There are actually multiple narrators and I thought they were all good.
I was immediately swept up in this story of old time Hollywood as told through an 90-year-old actresses' memories. As Evelyn tells her story, the reader realizes it more than just someone's life. It is mistakes, forgiveness, misunderstanding, hidden love, and more.
What does marriage mean? Is 7 too many? Most people's gut response is "yes," but as you read about Evelyn's you realize why she married each of these men (and why they divorced) and see that there is always more to each person's story that we know from the outside.
This novel is also about family, both blood and found. How they shape our lives, our decisions, support us, and wreck us. And the twist near the end? Didn't see it coming!
Challenges for which this counts:
- Mount TBR
- Literary Escapes--Spain
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