Evelyn's Mother

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> Evelyn's Mother
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> (name unspecified)
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> Biographical Information
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> ### Place of Birth
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> Cuba
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> ### Date of Death
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> Approximately 1949
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> ### Place of Death
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> Hell's Kitchen, New York City, New York, U.S.A
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> Physical Information
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> ### Gender
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> Female
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> ### Status
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> Deceased
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> Affiliation
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> ### Occupation
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> • Chorus girl off-Broadway• Possible prostitute
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> ### Location
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> • Cuba (formerly)• Hell's Kitchen, New York (at time of death)
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> ### Spouse
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> Evelyn's unnamed father (husband)
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> ### Family
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> Evelyn Hugo † (daughter)Connor Cameron † (granddaughter)
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> *“My mother was a saint. I really mean it. Stunningly beautiful, an incredible singer, with a heart of gold. For years before she died, she would always tell me that we were gonna get out of Hell’s Kitchen and go straight to Hollywood. She said she was going to be the most famous woman in the world and get us a mansion on the beach. I had this fantasy of the two of us together in a house, throwing parties, drinking champagne. And then she died, and it was like waking up from a dream. Suddenly, I was in a world where none of that was ever going to happen. And I was going to be stuck in Hell’s Kitchen forever."* - Evelyn Hugo
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**Evelyn’s mother**- who remained unnamed throughout the entirety of the novel- emigrated from Cuba to Hell’s Kitchen, New York City, New York, U.S.A with Evelyn’s father when she was seventeen, where she performed as a chorus girl off Broadway. Evelyn reflected that once she got older, she discovered that chorus girl was also a euphemism for prostitute, though it is unknown whether or not Evelyn’s mother actually was one. When looking back, Evelyn concluded that she liked to think that her mother was not a prostitute. “Not because there’s any shame in it, but because I know a little bit about what it is to give your body to someone when you don’t want to, and I hope she didn’t have to do that”, she claimed.

Evelyn’s mother was described as “stunningly beautiful, an incredible singer, with a heart of gold.”

Since Evelyn’s mother died when Evelyn was a child, Evelyn did not have many memories of her. However, it was recalled that Evelyn’s mother smelled like cheap vanilla, and that she made “the most amazing” *caldo gallego*. Evelyn’s mother never called Evelyn by her name, rather only as *mija*, which made Evelyn feel very special, like they belonged to each other.

Evelyn’s mother’s marriage to Evelyn’s father was an abusive relationship. Evelyn’s father was an aggressive alcoholic, and made his family feel “like not want[ing him] to look at you too closely, lest he decides he hates you and hits you or decides he loves you a little too much.”

Above all else, Evelyn’s mother’s biggest dream was to be a movie star. She honestly believed that by getting in the movies, she could get out of Hell’s Kitchen and away from Evelyn’s father, taking her daughter with her. Four years before her death, she would tell Evelyn that they were to get out of Hell’s Kitchen together and go straight to Hollywood, and that she was going to be the most famous woman in the world, throwing parties and drinking champagne in a mansion she would get for the two of them on the beach.

Evelyn highly valued her mother, and aspired to be just like her. Evelyn’s mother acted as the embodiment of her daughter’s hope for a better life in the future.

When Evelyn was eleven years old, her mother fell ill with pneumonia. Evelyn always wished that her mother would say something moving that she could take with her always as her final words on her deathbed, however this did not come true. Evelyn claims “we didn’t know how sick she was until it’s over”. The last thing Evelyn’s mother said to her daughter as well as her last known words were “*dile a tu padre que estaré en la cama*”, which means “tell your father I’ll be in bed”.

After her mother’s death, Evelyn would only cry in the shower, as it was where no one could see her or hear her, and she couldn’t tell what were her tears and what was the water. After a few months, Evelyn became able to take a shower without crying.

Evelyn’s mother was her inspiration and motivation to become a movie star herself, as she wanted to honor her by giving herself the life she had promised to her they’d get.

Much later in Evelyn’s life, during the height of her fame, Evelyn found herself acknowledging the lack of authenticity and homage to her culture, roots, and therefore her mother in her surroundings, lifestyle, and appearance, sparked by witnessing her hired assistant Luisa’s authenticity to herself as she spoke on the phone to her mother in fluent Spanish. All these things that honored her mother Evelyn had sacrificed for the fame that she had decided to take up to honor her mother in the first place. She lamented that while this helped her release the ties she had remaining with her father, it also pulled her away from her mother, whom everything had been for at one point.