Evelyn's Approach to Truth and Honesty

The author uses this theme largely to explore Evelyn Hugo's slippery relationship with the truth. While narrating her story to Monique, Evelyn frequently insists that when she was dishonest, she was only trying to do the right thing, and quite often this is accurate. However, Evelyn's priorities were often askew. For example, she lived a lie when it came to her relationship with Celia St. John because she did not want to lose her fame and status as an actress. This hurt Celia and resulted in the couple's estrangement from one another for several years. Evelyn's actions in the aftermath of Harry Cameron's death and her failure to tell Monique the truth about her father are complicated and difficult to judge. She was trying to protect Harry's reputation, and by extension her own and their daughter Connor's, but because of the...