Book ~ "The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo" (2017) Taylor Jenkins Reid

From Goodreads ~ 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 nears its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways.

Evelyn Hugo grew up poor. She knew she wanted to be an actress and did everything she could to achieve that and succeeded. She'd been married seven times ... sometimes for love and sometimes to get ahead. She's now 79 years old and ready to tell her story and chooses to tell it to Monique. No one is more surprised than Monique because she is newly hired at Vivant and her boss has made it quite clear that she's rather someone more senior for the assignment. But for Evelyn, it's Monique or no one.

Evelyn tells her story in her own way and in her own time so Monique ends up spending a lot of time with her. Evelyn's story is interesting and detailed and during their time together, Monique can't help wondering why Evelyn chose her to tell it.

I thought this story was okay. It is written in first person perspective ... in Evelyn's voice when she is telling her story to Monique and Monique's otherwise. Also included are news articles from celebrity magazines of the time. I didn't really like Evelyn and thought some of the decisions she made were unbelievable, especially when she was jumping from husband to husband and the reasons why she did. I found Monique boring. We find out towards the end why Evelyn chose Monique to tell her story and it was an interesting twist. As a head's up, there is swearing and adult activity.