Taylor Jenkins Reid | Reading Malibu Rising with The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

 

Malibu Rising and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Published by Ballantine Books, June 1, 2021 and Atria Books, June 13, 2017

Genre: Beach Reads

Format: Audiobook via Libby

A pretty picture is never what it seems.

My first encounter with Taylor Jenkins Reid came when I saw that Hello Sunshine had optioned Daisy Jones & the Six. I started Daisy on a rare lazy afternoon, but I haven't been able to get into it yet. Jenkins Reid has written at least six books, but it wasn't until Daisy Jones that her stories garnered a  spotlight. Reid gives each of her big hits a decade and a southern California locale: Evelyn is 1960s Hollywood; Daisy is 1970s LA; Malibu --the story of the Riva family, but mainly Nina-- is 1980s Malibu. The stories intersect in fun ways. For example, one of Evelyn Hugo's husbands is Mick Riva, who appears again as Nina's father in Malibu Rising.

What I like about her approach is that Taylor Jenkins Reid seems to start the writing process using her background in casting. She zooms in on a stranger's life and tells her story. For example, according to an interview with The Retaility, before writing Malibu Rising, Reid fell in love with the photography of LeRoy Grannis, a photographer who captured the essence of 1960s and 70s California surf culture. She says she wanted to write a story about a girl forced to grow up quickly. Inspired by Taylor Swift's line, "you made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter," Reid focused Malibu on Nina Riva.  

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a book that has stayed with me. Evelyn, who steps into the Hollywood spotlight at a young age, understands that marriages---for her---are exchanges of currency. Because of her position in society, her public relationships become as much a part of her public persona as her outfits. The novel follows her entire life, and it becomes clear that it's Evelyn's other relationships, her friendships and nonpublic partnerships, that come to define her life. 

LOVELY BIT

"People think that intimacy is about sex. But intimacy is about truth. when you realize you can tell someone your truth, when you can show yourself to them, when you stand in front of them bare and their response is 'You're safe with me'-- that's intimacy." The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

"Maybe our parents' lives are imprinted within us, maybe the only fate there is is the temptation of reliving their mistakes. Maybe, try as we might, we will never be able to outrun the blood that runs through our veins. Or. Or maybe we are free the moment we're born. Maybe everything we've ever done is by our own hands." Malibu Rising

RATING

Reading Reid, I keep returning to the idea that relationships are complicated, all different --- and always worth it. It's fun spending a few Cali glam hours contemplating that. I'm going to give Daisy another shot and probably track back to her earlier books. Between Malibu and Hugo, Hugo wins.