Living Life With Books
Sunday 26th February 2023
SPOILER ALERT: I LOVED this book.
In recent months I have really been trying to get back into reading – which is something I haven’t done properly in about 3.5 years (since my deadly English Literature A Levels). Being a fan of literature since I was a child I have struggled greatly with the idea of audible – I mean listening to a book instead of reading it seemed to completely destroy the whole purpose of books. HOWEVER, as someone who now has a full-time job and long commutes audible has been AMAZING. I am now able to make my commutes productive and enjoyable instead of wishing I was still in bed. It has also definitely allowed me to get through books at a much quicker pace.
The first audible I listened too being ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ which had been all over booktok and many people I knew were a fan of the book already. Now for those that skipped over the first few lines of this post, I will repeat. SPOILER ALERT: I LOVED THIS BOOK. The dual perspectives, the rawness, the scandals, the relationships everything was perfectly put together. Usually I hate dual perspectives as they can often be confusing or repetitive and waste much time but that was not the case for this book whereby the dual perspectives allowed for a more wholesome novel. In addition, it gave a break from the biography of Evelyn Hugo and provided more context making the reader eager for the next segment.
The book itself begins with a journalist conversing with her boss and ending up with Evelyn Hugo personally choosing her to meet. From this conversation we hear that the journalists boss is not the nicest person and the journalist herself has some connections with Hollywood through her dad.
Moving to the initial conversation between the journalist (Monique Grant) and Evelyn Hugo – we come to terms with the fact that Evelyn herself would like a biography written about her life that is to be published after she dies as she believes she doesn’t have long left. Therefore, this will be her final interview about her life, her secret life and her endeavours with old Hollywood. The journalist agrees; I won’t give any further spoilers but throughout the book we hear the conversations between these two that reveal Evelyn Hugo’s side of her public life and we also learn about her fascinating secret life. From her childhood to making her way into Hollywood, the people she met in between – particularly the men- her best friend, her lovers, her life. Now although the title mentions her seven husbands and they certainly play a role in the book, her story is much much more than this. The ups, the downs and the secrets make this an incredibly put together book and could very easily have been a real actress – makes you think what secrets our world famous stars have, ones that we are likely to never know.
I will definitely be listening to this book again and I hope you give it a try.
Overall this was an amazing listen and really put me in a place where I love stories again – which I haven’t had in a long time. It was also the first time I’ve enjoyed listening to a (fictional) biography and has lead me to listen to more in the months after. So if you’re looking to get back into books but you are struggling to make time or commit to actually reading then I would definitely recommend using audible (and no this isn’t sponsored- maybe one day ;)). Furthermore, if you are unsure of what you’re first listen should be and you are interested in scandals, love, dynamic stories with many twists and turns then ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ will be perfect for you.
I hope you have enjoyed this post and will stick around for more reviews, updates and lifestyle content which I post twice a week (Wednesday 6pm and Sunday 11am UK time). Also, check out my other socials which are linked below, hopefully I will see you on the next post.
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