The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

Back at Evelyn’s apartment, Monique decides that her only option is to lie to Frankie and tell her that everything is going according to plan. She remembers going to the beach when she was small. When she felt the cold water on her feet, she cried, but Monique’s father told her to breathe in and out five times, and afterward the water didn’t feel so cold. In the hard moments of her childhood—when she was teased or hurt—her father would breathe with her like this. Now, in Evelyn’s foyer, she breathes the same way. Monique calls Frankie and says that “things are progressing,” but that Evelyn is reluctant to talk about anything other than the dresses and the auction.

Grace takes Monique upstairs to Evelyn’s study. Evelyn tells Monique to sit at the desk and seats herself on the sofa opposite. Monique says she’s never written a biography, at which Evelyn launches into a story. At the age of 14, after Evelyn’s mother died, she knew Evelyn’s father would eventually marry her off for his own advantage. They were broke and couldn’t even afford electricity. But Evelyn knew she held men’s attention, and she’d heard that one of her neighbors, Ernie Diaz, was about to take a job in Hollywood, so she knocked on his door and lied about her age in order to be with him. She tells Monique that the one thing she should learn from her is to take things, rather than wait for them to be given to her—and that rule applies to this biography, too.

Evelyn asks Monique where she should begin. Monique refers to her notebook, where she’s gone over and over one question with her pen: “Who was the love of Evelyn’s life???” She asks Evelyn whether Harry Cameron was the love of her life. Evelyn says that, while he was her best friend, he wasn’t the love of her life in the way Monique means. When Monique presses her, she stands up and sees her out, telling her to come back on Monday to recommence the interview. Monique senses tension. As Monique puts her coat on, Evelyn tells her that in that moment in her study, she had a hard time telling the truth, but she’ll be ready on Monday.

Monique takes the subway home. She sits on her couch, answers some emails, and thinks about ordering dinner. It’s only when she goes to put her feet up that she remembers the coffee table and David are no longer there. It’s the first time she’s returned to her apartment without immediately thinking about David, and for the next few days, instead of thinking about her marriage, she ponders Evelyn’s love life instead.