The Expert Book Smuggler

Who is Taylor Jenkins Reid?

Taylor Jenkins Reid, best known for her novel The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, is an author who is well-loved in popular online book spaces. If you’ve yet to curate your TikTok feed, her books will likely pop up on your for you page. Reid has amassed massive success through her books. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is being adapted into a movie and her book Daisy Jones and the Six has been adapted into a TV series. 

But why are some readers including Reid on their DNR (Do Not Read) lists? Criticisms of this author focus on white saviorism, co-opting racialized stories, and poor representation of racialized characters in her books.

In The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Reid tells the story of a Cuban-American actress forced to hide her identity to gain success in the industry. 

In Carrie Soto is Back, Reid tells the story of another Latinx character who comes out of retirement to prevent an Asian player from breaking her records. The main character, Carrie, was also a character in Malibu Rising.

I lie awake nights, literally unable to sleep because I do not know what the right thing to do is. I just approach it with the feeling that the women of color in my life deserve to be the center of stories. The most important thing I can do to make that happen is to recommend and uplift and support women of color. That is my main priority. Me writing a woman of color does not replace the active work I have to do, and I spend a lot of time recommending books by women of color and blurbing books by women of color. Taylor Jenkins Reid (The Cut)

While Reid has acknowledged that she has a limited ability to understand the life of a woman of color, she continues to write books centered on these women and her lack of understanding shows in her writing. What she has failed to acknowledge is that by publishing these books, she is taking space that Latinx authors could occupy. After all, the most recent report from Lee&Low indicates that the Latinx representation in the industry is incredibly low, at just 4. 6% of the industry overall.

“There are marketing dollars allocated to certain books and then there are marketing dollars NOT allocated to most other books. So this book [Carrie Soto is Back] is going to soak up a lot of marketing dollars and advance dollars that Latinx authors Do. Not. See.” (@tomesandtextiles via TikTok)

Carmen (@tomesandtextiles) discusses that the publishing industry will consider this book as a huge win and check the box for Latinx diversity- therefore, taking away those marketing dollars and industry representation from Latinx authors. This is, of course, not entirely Reid’s fault. One cannot blame her for the racist nature of the publishing industry. However, interviews with Reid show she is at least somewhat aware of the criticisms. If she is going to write books with Latinx leads, she should also take the time to understand the impact this has on Latinx authors. 

If a white author feels the need to write these stories, they should be asking themselves… why? Why do you need to tell these stories? What are your motivations? Why do you feel your voice is necessary for this? 

In multiple interviews, Reid has stated that she KNOWS this isn’t her place and has gone so far as to acknowledge industry issues by stating, “We have a problem, in publishing and entertainment, of not centering minority voices.” 

“The reason why I wrote this book despite not being queer or biracial is because, due to my work writing about straight white women, I have an audience. I continue to be handed a microphone. I have a book deal. And my feeling was that I could use that book deal, that immense privilege, to continue to write about people like myself or I could use it to write about people that often get pushed to the sidelines.” Taylor Jenkins Reid (bi.org)

However, Reid has inadvertently done exactly what she claims to be fighting against: she is centering herself in a space that should be focused on minority voices. While Taylor seems to have the spirit in blurbing books by racialized authors, I find it difficult to give her credit for this. It reminds me of those who say, “I am aware I have white privilege” as a way to dodge criticism. 

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

In The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Reid (a white author) tells the story of Cuban-American actress Evelyn Hugo. Hugo previously hid her identity to succeed in the industry. Now a wildly successful actress, she’s spilling her life story to biracial journalist Monique.

Before I dive into this, I would love to recommend this video from @jesseonyoutube:

Issues cited in Jesse’s video include:

• Using the Black characters and their race as plot devices to further Evelyn’s story.
• Failing to give Monique characterization beyond being biracial and who she is related to.
• Evelyn’s character is compared to Elizabeth Taylor (and Ava Gardner) instead of a Latina actress such as Rita Hayworth.

There is a long history of [white authors] using Blackness and Black characters as a vehicle for trauma.

(@jessonyoutube)

This is not a criticism limited to Jesse’s video as many users have also brought up their issues with the way that Monique’s racial identity was used as a plot twist for the book. Instead of crafting a well-rounded Black character, Reid used Monique and her father as a tool for Evelyn’s story progression.

Who is Monique’s father? Well, that would be the queer Black man who died in a car crash after Evelyn’s white best friend drove drunk and crashed the car. Before Evelyn takes her best friend to the hospital, she moves the Black man into the driver’s seat to protect her friend.

Somebody please tell me what the point of Monique’s character was? I ADORE good representation but hers was a bland, clunky example of tokenism. Her character, independent of race, was unnecessary and flat-out boring. Evelyn’s story didn’t need to be framed, and Monique’s sections felt tedious to wade through. As a woman of colour in Old Hollywood, sadly, Evelyn’s story would be rife with obstacles, but Taylor Jenkins Reid erases history, and mostly ignores the existence of racism. Frankly, I’m not sure why Evelyn was Latina, considering how feeble her representation felt.

Honestly, TJR’s depiction of race and sexuality was one the things that irked me most; because despite a clumsy attempt at being ‘deep’, her observations lack depth and feel forced. There’s nothing you’ll read that you can’t find on leftist twitter with a quick google search. I think a straight white cis woman could write a gay black trans man well provided she had done the right research—I don’t believe in restricting what people can write about, but Taylor Jenkins Reid seems to have done anything but.

Goodreads Review

The combination of using Monique’s Blackness as a plot twist and tying this to a Black character whose death was treated as little more than a cheap plot device highlights Reid’s inability to view her racialized characters as more than a means to an end. Furthermore, it shows that Reid tends to use racialized characters as a way to ‘spice’ up her stories. If these characters were not explicitly labeled as Black- how much would the story change? This is an issue I highlighted in my Kate Stewart post: white authors very often fail to see their racialized characters as little more than their labels.

Carrie Soto is Back

To have a book that’s about this world fictionalized to be more diverse, but totally shut out black women was truly heartbreaking. TJR modeled the fake athletes after real ones like sharapova, Kornikova, capriati etc. And she did the same with the Williams sisters and Osaka, except their very real achievements, play styles, and impact were stripped away and placed on what I guess TJR sees as more “palatable” POC.

-Phelycia Marsh on Goodreads

With Carrie Soto is Back, Reid tells the story of a retired Argentinian-American tennis player who comes out of retirement to prevent an Asian player (Nicki Chan) from breaking her record. Issues reviewers have cited include:

• Microaggressions in the book as well as incorrect Spanish.
• A white author pitting a Latina woman against an Asian woman.
• The lack of Black players represented in the book despite obvious inspiration from real Black players.

Oh, it is clear. I read that particular article after I read the book, but holy shit, the similarities between Carrie Soto and Serena and Venus Williams are too many to be coincidental. The whole “reporters asking her to smile and her telling them off” thing is recreated almost word for word. […] There’s a fine line between inspiration and blatant copying, and I fear it has been crossed in this case.

– Ellie on Goodreads

This highlights the issue at play: the Reid enters racialized spaces, takes what works for her, discards the rest, and profits. Her racialized characters may pull inspiration, they may have the appropriate labels, but they’re meant to be palatable to a white audience. By only including the bare minimum to count toward diversity, both Reid and her readers can pat themselves on the back and check off their annual ‘Latinx’ read.

Support of the apartheid state of israel

Again, I do not think this is enough information to label Reid an outright Zionist. However, all items in conjunction do not make Reid’s decision to focus on Israeli pain in the midst of the genocide of Palestine look any better.

Her failure to speak up and utilize her platform to support Palestine as an author who is comfortable telling marginalized stories? It is suspicious.

Ultimately, I am of the opinion that Taylor Jenkins Reid likely believes she is doing something good with her writing. Through reading her interviews, it is easy to see that Reid has a strong desire to tell stories that she cannot relate to. It seems that she believes she is utilizing her privilege for good.

However, that alone displays that she hasn’t done the work to understand how her whiteness has enabled her to tell these stories in a way that most Latinx (and queer) authors will never be able to do.

Resources

Note: What’s the deal with? is a series that explores reasons why others dislike your favorite author. An author’s inclusion in this series is based on Patron votes. This series is intended for informed readership ONLY.