The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: Chapter 6 Summary & Analysis

Evelyn’s mother and Evelyn’s father emigrated to the U.S. from Cuba and settled in Hell’s Kitchen, a neighborhood in Manhattan, when Evelyn’s mother was 17. Evelyn’s mother, who dreamed of becoming a movie star and getting herself and Evelyn away from Evelyn’s father, died when Evelyn was 11. Soon after, Evelyn’s body begins to mature. By the time Evelyn is 13, she’s tall and beautiful with a full chest, and she realizes grown men look at her as she walks past. One day, a 16-year-old boy, the cashier at the corner store, kisses her and forces her to show him her chest. She knows she’ll have to do it, so in exchange, she takes whatever she wants from the store without paying. The boy tells her she has power over him, and she believes him. When he dumps her, she feels relieved, but also that she’s failed.

Eventually, Evelyn realizes she can choose whom she shows her body to. She doesn’t feel attracted to anyone sexually, but what she does want is to escape Hell’s Kitchen and get to Hollywood. In her mind, Hollywood is the promise of sun and palm trees. She also thinks that life there is just like life in the movies: in Hollywood, good people win, and bad people get punished. Evelyn puts on her favorite green dress and knocks on Ernie Diaz’s door. They marry—Evelyn is only just 15—and move to Hollywood, where they save up to move into their own place.

Instead of finishing high school, Evelyn visits the same restaurant every day, hoping to be discovered as an actress. Eventually, the bartender gets sick of her and tells her she has to work if she’s going to keep hanging around, so she begins to wait tables. After four months, young producer Harry Cameron has a meeting at the restaurant and is startled by Evelyn’s beauty; he secures her a deal at Sunset Studios within two weeks.

Evelyn tells Ernie, dishonestly, that acting will be something fun for her to do until she becomes a mother. At this point, she’s 17. She heads to Sunset Studios every morning to play as an extra, occasionally getting one or two lines. She asks Ernie if she can pay for acting classes, though it angers her to have to ask him how she can spend her own money. Though he doesn’t know her real motive for marrying him, she becomes frustrated that he underestimates her, telling her she “might” star in a movie one day when she knows she will.

After six months of acting lessons, Evelyn can deliver lines convincingly. She visits Harry Cameron’s office and asks him for a lead role in an upcoming romantic comedy. Harry is one of the few men at the studio who doesn’t seem preoccupied with Evelyn’s body, which bothers her—she feels like she’s doing something wrong. He tells her that Ari Sullivan, a producer on the movie, won’t approve her for the part because of her race: he needs “a nice blond girl.” Though Evelyn pushes Harry, suggesting she get a part in a different film, he doesn’t budge on the subject.

The next time Evelyn sees Ari Sullivan, she drops her purse in front of him and makes eye contact with him as she bends to pick it up. A week later, she runs into him in the hallway. He greets her by name, and after his secretary leaves for the night, Evelyn allows him to orally pleasure her on his desk. She fakes an orgasm after a few minutes. Though she doesn’t enjoy the act, she’s happy enough being there because she knows she’s going to get what she wants from a career standpoint.

When the two films Evelyn wanted parts in come out, they receive dismal reviews, which Evelyn uses as leverage with Harry. He and Ari offer her the option of either playing an Italian heiress or playing Jo in Little Women. Evelyn chooses Jo: though it’s a white role, which means she’ll have to transform physically, it will put her on a more ambitious career path. Evelyn meets with a stylist who bleaches her hair and shapes her eyebrows, a nutritionist who prescribes cabbage soup and smoking for weight loss, and an elocutionist who forbids her from speaking Spanish. Evelyn also fills out a questionnaire about her life, but the researcher who reads it tells her she needs to change her answers, especially making sure to paint her father as a caring, hardworking man.

Evelyn sits for dozens of publicity photos, some of which involve her playing golf and getting on an airplane. The wardrobe people ensure she’s always wearing what Harry demands, including a tight sweater. She realizes she’s being marketed as “both naïve and erotic,” and she feels comfortable acting out that persona. Harry asks for another meeting to discuss Evelyn’s name. She wants one with the initials EH, her maiden name, and suggests Evelyn Hugo—a name she came up with the night before. Finally, Harry asks Evelyn to go on dates with a few movie stars, implying that she needs to divorce Ernie. She writes him a letter expressing false love and heartbreak. Looking back, Evelyn doesn’t feel sorry for her opportunistic behavior, especially considering that Ernie remarried and had eight children.