The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
“My mother raised me to be polite, to be demure. I have long operated under the idea that civility is subservience. But it hasn’t gotten me very far, that type of kindness. The world respects people who think they should be running it. I’ve never understood that, but I’m done fighting it.” (p. 7-8)
“Evelyn looks at me with purpose. “Do you understand what I’m telling you? When you’re given an opportunity to change your life, be ready to do whatever it takes to make it happen. The world doesn’t give things, you take things. If you learn one thing from me, it should probably be that.”” (p. 35)
“That is the fastest way to win a woman’s reputation, after all - to imply that she has not adequately threaded the needle that is being sexually satisfying without ever appearing to desire sexual satisfaction.” (p. 120)
“You don’t know how fast you have been running, how hard you have been working, how truly exhausted you are, until someone stands behind you and says, “It’s OK, you can fall down now. I’ll catch you.”
So I fell down.
And Harry caught me.” (p. 191)
“Never let anyone make you feel ordinary.” (p. 208)
“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.” (p. 113)