What to Read After The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
June 6, 2026
Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo became a word-of-mouth phenomenon for good reason: an ageing Hollywood icon, a lifetime of secrets, a frame story full of tension, and a final twist that floored everyone. If you closed it wanting exactly that feeling again, here’s where to go.
Keep reading Taylor Jenkins Reid
The obvious first stop. The “TJR cinematic universe” of interconnected novels includes:
- Daisy Jones & The Six — a 1970s rock band’s rise and breakup, told as an oral history. See Daisy Jones: book vs the Amazon series →.
- Malibu Rising — one unforgettable party, one famous family, one night that changes everything.
- Carrie Soto Is Back — a fierce ageing tennis champion’s comeback.
Browse all of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books →
If you loved the glamour and secrets
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev — Dawnie Walton A music journalist uncovers the truth about a Black female rock star and her white partner. Same oral-history energy, same “uncovering a legend” hook.
City of Girls — Elizabeth Gilbert 1940s New York theatre world, a woman looking back on a scandalous, glorious life. Lush and warm.
If you loved the structure (an interview unspooling a life)
Lessons in Chemistry — Bonnie Garmus A brilliant, wronged woman makes her own way in a hostile era. Sharp, funny, and full of heart — a book-club juggernaut.
The Personal Librarian — Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray A woman with a hidden identity at the centre of a glittering world — secrets, ambition, and historical drama.
If you loved the emotional gut-punch
One Day — David Nicholls and The Midnight Library — Matt Haig both deliver the same kind of “life examined, choices reckoned with” ache that makes Evelyn Hugo linger.
The common thread
What Evelyn Hugo nails is the seduction of a life story — glamour on the surface, real pain underneath, and the slow reveal of who someone really was. The books above all share that: complicated women, big lives, and secrets worth the wait.