The seventeenth book that I’ve finished reading this year is Taylor Jenkins Reid’s “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo”. At age 79, Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo appoints Monique Grant, an insignificant journalist, to record her true biography. Why does she choose Monique, and what’s the truth behind her seven marriages?

While the title is suggestive of a scandalous love life, Evelyn’s true experience suggests otherwise. Though she’s been going after fame, money and other materialistic matters that she yearned for as a child, she eventually realises that the most precious things in life are family and love. Despite her realisation being rather late, she is still brave enough to bear responsibility for her decisions and make the necessary sacrifices to pursue her real goals. Indeed, making mistakes is unavoidable; the deciding factor is whether you have the courage to accept the consequences and move on.

Most characters in this book are dynamic, with many aspects to their personality, which also leads to different types of love being portrayed. One can develop passionate love for another out of marriage while still keeping one’s family’s interest above one’s own. I used to find this phenomenon rather hypocritical, but now I realise that it is also a form of sacrifice, albeit still being immoral in the conventional sense. Most situations aren’t black and white; no human is a saint. Perhaps maturing in life is about learning to accept imperfections and coming to terms with the disappointments and flaws one may encounter.

Overall, this book has been an intriguing read. Although the language seems to create artificial effects at times, the core of the story provoked further thoughts in my interpretation of human nature. If you’d like to read about women trying to empower themselves, this may be an apt read.