7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Takes Over #BookTok

Evelyn Hugo and her iconic green dress as the main cover of the novel.

Source: Wildcat.Arizona

BookTok is a subculture of the famous platform, Tiktok where book lovers will post videos about trendy books and give reviews on it or book recommendations for people who want to start reading. As of July 2022, there were ten out of 15 books listed on the New York Times Paperback Trade Fiction Best Seller List recommended by #BookTok.

Recently, a novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid, a 38-year-old female author of the New York Times Bestselling Novels titled ‘7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’ went viral on #BookTok and it was not a surprise that the book was on the New York Times Bestseller list for 37 weeks. By the end of March 2022, Reid announced that the book will be adapted into a tv show by Netflix and this was already just one out of multiple successful books that were published by her.

List of Taylor Jenkin Reid’s Novels

Source: TaylorJenkinsReid.Com

The other would be Daisy Jones and The Six which came after Evelyn Hugo but the success for Daisy Jones was one of the reasons why people look up to her as an author and are anticipating more of her works. With Evelyn Hugo, it was a miracle for Reid because the novel was published few years ago in 2017 and it only went viral in 2022 because of #BookTok. Published by OprahDaily, #BookTok’s advantage would be the algorithm of the ‘For You Page’ on Tiktok that allows for a variety of specialization and the increase of specific subcultures emerging around interests and themes.

Readers on #BookTok recommended 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo to their followers.

Source: Tiktok

Creative readers annotating and highlighting significant lines in the novel on #BookTok

Source: TikTok

With the presence of #BookTok, that is how 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo became a popular name for readers and non-readers but what does the novel tell readers. Evelyn Hugo is a renowned actress who had many blockbuster hits in the Golden era of Hollywood set in 1950s and 60s. As the story begins, Hugo has already turned 79 and has been dodging the press but only one less-known journalist at Viviant Magazine by the name of Monique Grant was chosen to interview Hugo herself without any known reason. Then, Grant realized that Hugo wanted her to write and sell a biography of herself to the public.

Grant agreed to write a biography about the truth of Hugo and soon, the story unfolds about Hugo’s beginnings in Hollywood to every moment of her life that she enjoyed until the present and each section of the book has also been separated, titled by each of her seven husbands with reasons for their marriages and divorces.

In the novel itself, Reid has immersed her readers into the life of actresses in Hollywood. Each detail of Hugo’s background, job and the characters she interacts with felt real, as if the novel was just a Hollywood expose on a famous celebrity. It felt as if readers were reading through a gossip column. Reported by Times of India, Reid stated that the novel is loosely inspired by the real life actress, Elizabeth Taylor who got married eight times to seven different men and Ava Gardner who shared her life secrets with a journalist which was later published as, 'Ava Gardner: The Secret Conversations'.

Elizabeth Taylor, an Academy Award winner and renowned actress in the early 1940s.

Source: The Calliope Journal

Reid’s writings makes it more compelling for readers especially when most of her recent novels are about rock stars and movies that made readers search for these characters on Google as if they are real. It’s even more interesting when readers find out that her novels are all connected to one another as all the scenarios and stories told are in the same universe.

A Twitter user, @KATCPTRIS, tweeted as she read another Reid’s novel titled Malibu Rising, “Why didn’t I make this connection? Mick Riva is one of Evelyn’s husbands. Loving the Taylor Jenkin Reid universe.” Malibu Rising was another novel that tells the story of four famous siblings who threw a party to celebrate the end of the summer and one of the female characters is related to Evelyn’s ex husband, despite being in a separate novel. This shows how Reid has created another universe just for her readers to feel like they are part of the stories she’s telling.

Twitter user, @KATCPTRIS, realized that Taylor Jenkin Reid’s books are all set in one universe.

Source: Twitter

(Warning: Light Spoilers Ahead!)

Another aspect about the novel that captured many readers’ heart on #Booktok was the romance between Hugo and her secret lover-girlfriend, Celia St.James. In the novel, Grant asked about Hugo’s love life and Hugo emphasised that Celia was her only true love. Reid definitely did good with the romance in this novel!

Since the novel was set in the 1950s and 60s of Hollywood, there was not much focus on the LGBT community especially among famous celebrities. Even if any of these known names are part of the LGBT community, they had to stay silent. LGBT readers of Reid could relate to what Hugo and Celia went through in the course of their relationship, especially when they had to keep it as a secret. Both female characters were notoriously famous in the novel and even though the media showcase them as rivals, Hugo was always supportive of Celia.

Another Twitter user, @luthorearped also gave a 5/5 ratings for the novel which narrates the journey of 2 LGBT characters in society.

Source: Twitter

It was deeply saddening as the novel unfolds, where Celia and Hugo could not be together because of their sexuality but readers are in love with their relationship. Their relationship has become one of the famous LGBT book couples where readers would talk about them on social media constantly and even make edits of them.

An edit of Evelyn Hugo and Celia St James posted by a fan, @celiastjude on Twitter.

Source: Twitter

Reid has a promising future ahead of her as an author with a strong on-going fanbase who has fallen for her novels and writings. With #BookTok and its recommendations on Tiktok, this mainly have motivated people to get back into reading.