The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Evelyn Hugo finishes recounting her life story to Monique Grant by revealing the truth about the car accident that killed Monique's father, James Grant. The dead passenger in the wrecked car outside Harry Cameron's home was James, who had been Harry's secret lover. To protect the severely injured Harry from a drunk-driving conviction, Evelyn moved James's body into the driver's seat before help arrived, letting the world believe James had been the one driving under the influence. Harry died at the hospital shortly after. This deception let Monique and her mother, Angela, believe for their entire lives that James died because of his own drinking, when in fact he had gone to say goodbye to Harry, having decided he couldn't leave his family to move to Spain with him. Evelyn gives Monique a letter James wrote to Harry explaining this choice, finally giving Monique the truth about her father.

Evelyn also explains the rest of what happened after Harry's death: she, Celia St. James, Robert Jamison, and young Connor moved to Spain, where Evelyn had married Robert (Celia's brother) as a cover so she could manage Celia's affairs. Celia, who had emphysema, died at sixty-one roughly a decade later; Robert died a few years after that. Evelyn and Celia's daughter, Connor, was later diagnosed with breast cancer at thirty-nine and died eighteen months afterward — the loss that prompted Evelyn's charity gown auction at the start of the book. Evelyn confirms that despite her seven marriages, her one true love throughout her life was Celia.

Monique is furious to learn how her father's death was covered up and manipulated, but she also confronts Evelyn about when the biography can be published. Evelyn reveals she has breast cancer herself and wants the manuscript held until after her death. After Monique leaves, she pieces together that Evelyn's calm, deliberate unburdening of her entire life story was itself a form of preparation for ending her own life. Monique considers intervening but ultimately decides it should be Evelyn's choice. The next day, news breaks that Evelyn Hugo has died of what is reported as an accidental overdose.

In the closing pages, Monique writes and publishes the introduction to Evelyn's biography, finally telling the public the truth Evelyn entrusted her with: that Evelyn was bisexual, and that the great, enduring love of her life was not any of her seven husbands but her friend and off-and-on partner across decades, Celia St. James. The book ends with Monique having used Evelyn's story, and the truth about her own father, to move forward with her career and her understanding of her family's past.