The novel is narrated by Monique Grant, a New York City journalist in her mid-30s, with sections of embedded narrative in which Evelyn Hugo, a famous actress, tells the story of her life. Monique is surprised and confused when Evelyn selects her to write a tell-all biography, in which Evelyn is going to provide insights into her life and her complicated romantic history. Evelyn has famously been married 7 times. Monique hopes to leverage this opportunity to establish her own career growth; hearing about Evelyn's love life also helps Monique to process the end of her own marriage, as she has recently separated from her husband.
Evelyn narrates her life story to Monique over a number of weeks, alluding to how she wants to reveal the truth before the end of her life. Evelyn is a Cuban-American woman who grew up in poverty in New York City, but dreamed of becoming a famous actress, and escaping from her abusive father. In the 1950s, as a teenager, Evelyn married an acquaintance named Ernie Diaz because he was about to move to Los Angeles. Once she was in LA, Evelyn quickly attracted the attention of studio executive and producer Harry Cameron, because she was charismatic and exceptionally beautiful. Evelyn quickly began to establish an acting career, showing that she was willing to do whatever was necessary to achieve fortune and fame. She divorced Ernie in order to capitalize on her reputation as a young and single rising star. Evelyn fell in love with and married fellow actor Don Adler, but that relationship quickly became abusive. Harry is the only person Evelyn truly trusts; he confides to her that he is a gay man, but must keep his true identity hidden.
Hiding her abusive marriage, and watching her career grow, Evelyn was cast alongside a beautiful young actress named Celia St. James. Although they were ostensibly rivals, Evelyn and Celia became close friends. Evelyn abruptly learned both that Celia was a lesbian, and that Don was unfaithful to her, on the same night, and realized she wanted to end her marriage, and explore her attraction to Celia. The divorce with Don had significant repercussions for Evelyn, and temporarily set back the progress of her career, but her blossoming relationship to Celia made Evelyn feel truly happy. However, Evelyn was insistent that their relationship be kept completely secret. To that end, when it seemed like they might be outed, Evelyn schemed to arrange a quickie marriage with singer Mick Riva. The plan worked, and after Evelyn and Mick's marriage was annulled, it seemed that Evelyn and Celia were safe. However, when Evelyn found out that she was pregnant and told Celia, Celia was furious that Evelyn went so far as having sex with Mick. Evelyn and Celia broke up, and Evelyn terminated the pregnancy.
Without Celia, Evelyn focused on her career; she married another actor, Rex North, in an agreement to advance both of their careers. Evelyn and Rex got along well without having romantic feelings for one another, especially as Evelyn had not gotten over Celia. Eventually, Rex asked to leave the marriage because he had fallen in love with another woman and wanted to be with her; to avoid damaging their reputations, Evelyn staged a fake affair with Harry Cameron. This plan led to Evelyn and Harry deciding to get married since they loved one another, and it would help them to maintain secrecy about their private lives. While engaged to Harry, Evelyn reunited with Celia, and the two women realized they still love one another. During their separation, Celia had gotten married to a famous athlete named John Braverman, a closeted gay man. John and Harry were secretly in a relationship, so the two couples were able to use their marriages to hide their true relationships. The four of them lived happily together in New York for many years, and Evelyn and Harry had a daughter together. However, Evelyn betrayed Celia again when she filmed an explicit sex scene with her ex, Don Adler, without Celia's consent. Celia was furious, and broke up with Evelyn again; she also divorced John.
Years went by; John died suddenly, and Harry was devastated. Evelyn was surprised when Max Girard, a French director whom she worked with a number of times, asked her to marry him; she was attracted to Max, and eager to fall in love again, so she and Harry divorced. Evelyn and Max were happy together for a short time, but he ended up being shallow and superficial. Evelyn was unhappy in her marriage when she and Celia got in contact again; Celia explained that she had been diagnosed with a serious illness, and wanted to retire and spend the rest of her life with Evelyn in Europe. Evelyn divorced Max, and was prepared to retire and move, but Harry was hesitant. He explained that he was in love with a man in Los Angeles, and reluctant to leave. Before Evelyn and Harry came to an agreement, Harry and his lover became involved in a serious car accident. Harry was driving while drunk; since the other man died, Evelyn switched the positions of the bodies to make it appear that the other man was driving. She wanted to protect Harry from potential legal action. However, he died as a result of his injuries.
After Harry's death, Evelyn and her daughter moved to Spain to be with Celia; Evelyn also married Celia's brother, Robert, to make it easier to inherit Celia's estate after her passing. Before she died, Celia and Evelyn held a personal wedding ceremony, even though it was not legally valid. When Celia died, Evelyn moved back to New York, and lived a quiet life. In time, Robert also died, and then, Evelyn's daughter died of breast cancer at a young age.
Coming to the end of her narrative, Evelyn explains that she is also dying of breast cancer, and wanted to share her true story with the world. Then she tells Monique one last detail: the man who died alongside Harry in the car accident was Monique's father.
Monique is furious because, due to Evelyn's deception, she has always believed that her father died due to drunk driving. She also feels betrayed that her father was in a secret relationship with a man while married to her mother. While feeling conflicted towards Evelyn, Monique deduces that Evelyn is likely going to take her own life before she succumbs to cancer. Monique decides to honor Evelyn's choice, and after Evelyn's death, Monique publishes an article foreshadowing the biography and revealing that Evelyn was a bisexual woman. Monique is undecided whether she will ever tell her mother the truth about what she has learned about her father's death.
