Finished It And Need More
Today, if you just closed The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and feel a little lost, I have six books to read next. All of them are spoiler free, so you can watch even if you have not finished it.
I picked books that echo what makes Evelyn Hugo special. Some are glamorous, some are about secrets and hidden love, and some are simply stories told by women who refuse to be tidy. Let’s start by naming what we are chasing.
What To Look For
The things readers love most about Evelyn Hugo tend to fall into a few buckets. There is the glamour of the entertainment world, where a smile is a job. There is the frame, a younger person listening to an older one finally tell the truth.
There is also the love story that has to stay hidden, and the way the past quietly changes the present. Some of my picks hit all of these. Others only hit one, but they hit it hard.
One more thing to keep in mind. Evelyn is not a role model, and she knows it. She is a narrator who defends every choice and dares you to disagree. So a few of these picks are about complicated women who make hard bargains, not heroes who do the right thing.
Daisy Jones and the Six
Number one is the obvious one, and it is by the same author. Daisy Jones and the Six, by Taylor Jenkins Reid, was published in twenty nineteen. It is told as an oral history of a fictional nineteen seventies rock band, built from interviews with everyone who was there.
Daisy is a Los Angeles teenager who becomes a singer, and Billy Dunne leads a band called The Six. A producer pairs them, and the sparks begin. If you loved the gossip and the glamour of Evelyn Hugo, this has the same sparkle, with music. It is reportedly inspired by Fleetwood Mac.
The style is different, because you never get one narrator. Instead the story jumps between voices, and they disagree about what really happened. If you liked how Evelyn controls her own story, you will enjoy watching a whole band fight over theirs.
Malibu Rising
Number two is also by Taylor Jenkins Reid, and it comes with a fun connection. Malibu Rising, published in twenty twenty one, follows the four Riva siblings, Nina, Jay, Hud and Kit, over the twenty four hours of their famous annual party.
Their father is Mick Riva, the singer who is one of Evelyn’s seven husbands. So you get a little cameo world. It is warmer and more family focused than Evelyn Hugo, but it keeps the same love of glamour, secrets, and messy people.
It also helps if you read Evelyn Hugo first, since the little connections are more fun that way. I would call it a perfect second book if you are not ready to leave the author’s world yet.
Beautiful Ruins
Number three is Beautiful Ruins, by Jess Walter, from twenty twelve. It moves between nineteen sixty two on the coast of Italy and the present day in Hollywood, and the two stories slowly come together.
In Italy, a young hotel owner named Pasquale meets an American actress who has come from the set of Cleopatra. In Hollywood, a producer’s assistant is pulled into a search for her. Read it if what you loved was the old movie business, with its beautiful surface and its ruined people.
The tone is bittersweet and a little wry, and the book is more of a chorus than a single voice. It also plays with form, tucking in pieces of other writing, so it suits readers who like a puzzle as much as a plot.
Funny Girl
Number four is Funny Girl, by Nick Hornby, from twenty fourteen. It is set in London in the nineteen sixties and follows Barbara Parker, who is crowned Miss Blackpool and instantly walks away from the title.
She moves to London, changes her name to Sophie Straw, and becomes the star of a BBC sitcom. It is lighter and funnier than Evelyn Hugo, but it shares the same big idea: a woman remakes herself to get what she wants, and the business around her takes a cut.
It is a good pick if you liked the comedy in Evelyn Hugo, the quick banter and the sharp one liners. It is also a story about television, so you get a different corner of show business than the movie studios.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club
Number five is for the hidden love story. Last Night at the Telegraph Club, by Malinda Lo, came out in twenty twenty one. It is set in San Francisco in nineteen fifty four, and follows Lily Hu, a Chinese American teenager.
Lily begins to understand who she is and discovers a club where women can be themselves. It is a young adult novel, and it won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. If the forbidden love in Evelyn Hugo got to you, start here.
It is quieter than Evelyn Hugo and more tender than glamorous. The setting is a real time and place where being found out could cost a family everything, and the book takes that fear seriously. Know that it is written for teens, but adults read it, too.
Atmosphere
Number six is Atmosphere, by Taylor Jenkins Reid again, published in twenty twenty five. It follows Joan Goodwin, who becomes part of NASA’s Space Shuttle program in the early nineteen eighties.
Joan falls for another woman in her astronaut group, and they hide their love for fear of losing a seat on the shuttle. It is a different world from Hollywood, but the same pressure applies: you can have your dream or your love, but maybe not both, and not in public.
The book also carries a sense of dread, because it hints early that something went wrong. That gives it the feel of a page turner. If the feeling that a secret is waiting at the end of Evelyn Hugo was your favorite part, this is the one.
How To Choose
If you want more of the same sparkle, start with Daisy Jones and the Six. If you want a cozy family drama with a link to Evelyn’s world, pick Malibu Rising. For old movie glamour, go for Beautiful Ruins.
Pick Funny Girl when you want something funny and bright. For hidden love in a hostile era, choose Last Night at the Telegraph Club. And when you want the closest cousin in theme and heartbreak, I would go with Atmosphere.
More From The Author
If you want to keep reading Taylor Jenkins Reid, her books are standalone, so the order is up to you. In order of publication, they run from Forever, Interrupted in twenty thirteen, to After I Do, Maybe in Another Life, and One True Loves.
Then come Evelyn Hugo in twenty seventeen, Daisy Jones and the Six in twenty nineteen, Malibu Rising in twenty twenty one, Carrie Soto Is Back in twenty twenty two, and Atmosphere in twenty twenty five.
A Few Honest Notes
A quick word on what these books are not. None of them is a copy of Evelyn Hugo, and none will give you exactly the same hit. Evelyn is a rare mix of glamour, wit, and heartbreak, and each pick keeps only a piece of that.
Also, check content warnings before you start, because several of these touch on grief, danger, or discrimination. And if one of them does not click in the first fifty pages, give yourself permission to move on to the next.
Where To Get Them
Links to all six books are in the description below. Tell me in the comments: which one are you starting with, and what should I add to the list? Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time.
