The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Week 9: Identity, Ambition, and the Cost of Making It
Read the chapters in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo that most directly examine her career milestones, her film roles, and the professional choices that defined her public legacy.
Previewing Week 9 of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 11-week guide when you’re ready.
Evelyn Hugo did not just want to be famous — she wanted to be powerful, and the novel is deeply curious about what that desire looks like in a world that was not designed for a woman like her to have it.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Evelyn's drive to succeed is presented as inseparable from her need to survive — first financially, then socially. At what point in the novel do you sense that ambition has become something more than survival? When does it become desire, ego, or obsession?
2.Reid shows us Evelyn making deliberate sacrifices of her Cuban identity to succeed in Hollywood — anglicizing elements of herself, distancing herself from her heritage. How does the novel assess that choice? Is she a collaborator with a racist system, a pragmatist, a survivor, or something else?
3.Evelyn gains significant power within the studio system — more than most women of her era — partly by leveraging her relationships with powerful men. What does the novel say about the difference between power that is earned and power that is borrowed or bartered?