I. Loved. This. Book. It was not at all what I expected. I first saw it floating around on Instagram a year or so ago. I follow several of the Real Housewives there (shocker) and I remember seeing both Kyle Richards from Beverly Hills and Carolyn Manzo from New Jersey reading it. The cover and the title made it look like some sort of sweeping, Harlequin romance – which is not at all my speed – so I didn’t bother with it. But then a friend said how good it was, and I read Daisy Jones & the Six which I loved, so I gave it a go. I am soooooo happy I did. It’s one of those books that starts as one thing, but ends in a completely different head space.

It begins with Monique Grant, a writer for Vivant magazine, being called into the office of Frankie Troupe, her boss. Turns out Evelyn Hugo – one of the biggest Hollywood stars of her time (think Elizabeth Taylor or Meryl Streep) has contacted their magazine because after these years Evelyn wants to be featured in a magazine. She’s been out of the public eye for years, and this would be huge. What’s weird is Evelyn’s people called and requested Monique specifically, but no one knows why. Monique has done no major stories – she’s still working up to that. This would be huge for her – so she agrees.

When she first meets with Evelyn, she quickly realizes that Evelyn is someone who likes to take control, and it’s abundantly clear that Evelyn will reveal everything – but on her terms. She doesn’t want to do a simple cover story for a magazine. She wants Monique to write her life story. The only caveat is, it can’t be published until she is dead, BUT Monique will get to keep all the proceeds. Monique knows this would be huge for her. She would make all kinds of money from this – and lord knows she could use it. Her husband just left her and she’s trying to get back on her feet. The problem is, if she can’t sell the book until Evelyn is dead, what will she do now? Frankie expects a cover story and if Monique can’t deliver, she very well might be out of a job.

But in chapter 4 of the book, Evelyn says to Monique, “When you’re given an opportunity to change your life, be ready to do whatever it takes to make it happen. The world doesn’t give things, you take things.”

Monique hopes maybe she will be able to persuade Evelyn into agreeing to a cover story AND a book deal, so she throws caution to the wind and jumps in, but before she begins, Evelyn tells Monique that she knows Monique is going to hate her before she finishes her story.

We, the reader, find out all about Evelyn’s life while Monique does. We learn that her beautiful Cuban mother – a showgirl in New York dreamed of being a movie star. She wanted to take herself and Evelyn out of Hell’s Kitchen and away from her abusive husband, but an untimely death prevented that. A few years later, when she is just fifteen years old, Evelyn leaves Hell’s Kitchen for California to honor her mother, and become a star herself.

Her life story takes us through her seven husbands. We meet Ernie Diaz, the man she married in order to get from Hell’s Kitchen, to California, and then Don Adler, a hot, young leading man who has a big ego and a short temper. She also is married to a singer, a film producer who is gay, and the brother of one of her closest friends (among a few others), and though she was married seven times, it was never to the one person she loved more than any of these men. It was actually a woman that she was in a secret relationship with for many years, but could never publicly announce because of the way it would negatively affect them. At one point in the book, her lover says she will give it all up so she can be with Evelyn – surely it wouldn’t be the end of the world, to which Evelyn replies: “I wish the world was ready to be the way you see it. I wish that the rest of the people on earth with us were capable of living up to your expectations. But they aren’t. The world is ugly, and no one wants to give anyone the benefit of the doubt about anything.”

I think that especially struck me seeing as how, even today, there are people in this world who are still trying so hard to take away people’s rights simply because of who they love.

This is a beautiful story that is about so much more than a Hollywood starlet who was married seven times. It’s also a story about what lengths we go to love someone even when the world tells us it’s wrong.

The book is perfectly paced – I was captivated the entire time, so much so that whenever Evelyn would throw in a “You’re going to hate me by the time this story ends” I kept thinking, “What could she have possibly done that Monique would hate her?” When the reveal of why she wanted Monique to be the one to write her story came around, and why she felt Monique would hate her I was completely blindsided and I loved it, but my emotional reaction wasn’t as extreme as Monique’s. I kind of understood why Evelyn did what she did. I understood why Monique was upset, but (in my opinion) her reaction felt a bit extreme. I won’t go into that further because I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read the book. If you have – shoot me an email or a voice message from the website and let me know your thoughts.

I read where Netflix is adapting the book, and from what I understand they’re adapting it as a movie. I, personally, feel like there’s way too much material here for a movie to do it justice. I hope they change their minds and do a limited series instead.

No word on casting, though I’ve seen many people saying Jessica Chastain should play Evelyn. I disagree. Despite the fact that she is blonde, Evelyn is Cuban so they need to have a Cuban actress play her. I vote for Ana D’armas. We already know she can do blonde after playing Marilyn Monroe. And I think maybe they need to have Rita Moreno play the older Evelyn. I can see Jessica Chastain playing Evelyn’s love interest.

I also pictured either Zoe Kravtiz or Jurnee Smollett as Monique and Yvonne Orji from Insecure as Frankie. I pictured Michelle Yeoh as Grace, Evelyn’s housekeeper, and maybe Matt Rogers (again) as Harry (Evelyn’s fifth husband).

This was an amazing story and a completely captivating read.