735 of 757 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Papa" was a rolling stone, February 3, 2011
This review is from: The Paris Wife: A Novel (Hardcover)
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At the end of Ernest Hemingway's memoir,
A Moveable Feast , he writes of his first wife, Hadley Richardson, "I wish I had died before I loved anyone but her." After their divorce, Hemingway marries three more times, each one prompt to follow, like serial wives. This is the story of the woman that loved him before he was famous.
Paula McLain researched their biographies, letters, and Hemingway's novels, culling the material to imagine a story of their charmed and battered marriage in Paris, from 1921-1926. The tortured life and tragically foreshadowed suicide of Ernest Hemingway is public knowledge, as was his legendary womanizing. McLain's novel dodges the palaver, blending the facts that are known together with credible inference, creating a plausible, informed depiction of Hemingway and Hadley's marriage--the quotidian, the famed, the halcyon, the harsh.
The author writes from Hadley's point of view, inviting the reader inside their most tender and demolishing moments. A few choice sections belong to Hemingway's perspective, urgent and telling. The narrative deftly folds in their histories--the years before they met--artfully revealing early and private woes, which ripple and sometimes hiss beneath the ardor. We get the back stories without muddled exposition; by the time it arrives at the failure of their union, readers have acquired a fluency of Hadley's nature and Hemingway's core.
Hadley sustained several painful childhood experiences that eerily parallel Hemingway's, and was a recluse and "spinster" at twenty-eight, when she met and was courted by the twenty-one-year-old Hemingway. He was a struggling, ambitious writer, home after the shock and agonies of the Great War, where he endured trauma and its aftereffects, described today as PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). He couldn't sleep without a light. His mother was an insufferable controller, and he didn't want to marry a woman like that.
The pliable and less progressive Hadley was a sound match for the needy, talented, and egocentric Ernest. He required a woman who would unshakably support his career. Hadley was a generous lover and devoted supporter who sacrificed her personal ambitions for Ernest. She was also playful and warm and smart, but not savvy and edgy like the emerging modern women of the 1920's.
In prose that reflects the style of the era, McLain illustrates a glittering world of élan expatriates and literati. Hadley and Ernest (and their baby, Bumby) lived in the (then) modest Latin Quarter, and soon became a vibrant part of the Left Bank artists, such as Gertrude Stein, Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, Ford Maddox Ford, Jean Rhys, and many others. Open marriage, and mistresses living in the same house with wives, were not unheard of in this set.
Blithe talk, bottomless glasses of whiskey, and bottle after bottle of wine was the norm in their active social lives. In the mornings, the hair of the dog was the cure for the night on the town. Jaunts to Pamplona to see the bullfights were illustrated by McClain in all their gory splendor.
During this time, Hemingway wrote copiously and tirelessly, jealous of some of his peers who were already established. The germination and completion of
The Sun Also Rises is covered, as well as his ruthless parody of Sherwood Anderson's work,
The TORRENTS OF SPRING. Hadley loved him utterly, propped him up buoyantly, and assured him of his inevitable success. Eventually, Ernest acquired more expansive needs, and Hadley needed less, but got more than she bargained for. McClain limns their marriage as more than just a cautionary tale.
"To keep you from thinking, there was liquor, an ocean's worth at least, all the usual vices and plenty of rope to hang yourself with. But some of us, a very few in the end, bet on marriage against the odds."
This isn't standard "chick-lit" fare, nor is it cloying. I recommend this to anyone interested in the psyche of Hemingway, his first marriage, and his genesis as one of the greatest American authors of our time--from a wife's perspective.
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235 of 248 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Intriguing, Engrossing Read., February 11, 2011
This review is from: The Paris Wife: A Novel (Hardcover)
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Ernest Hemingway, 21, marries Hadley Richardson eight years his senior and promptly moves with her to Paris to be among the upstarts, the in crowd, the expatriates that worshipped Paris as their city of creativity. Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald not to mention famous actors, musicians and painters were their companions though they often lived hand to mouth. Content to live in Ernest's shadow, providing him with much needed stability and a shoulder, Hadley embraces his love of of the outdoors, spontaneous moves to various Euorpean locals, bull fighting, horse racing and for a time, drinking. But soon the lure and glamour began to fade. The eccentricities of open marriages, mistresses and provocative lifestyles leaves Hadley at loss especially after the birth of their son. Hemingway's constant moodiness, carousing, heavy drinking, lack of decorum and superior attitude begin to unravel his wife's resolve. His resentment of her few friendships also speak to his possessiveness and selfish nature. When "fame" arrives it shatters all handrails that Hadley has clung to. The intense love she feels for Ernest drives her to fight for their marriage and for Ernest's life, but to what avail?
I adored the book, "Loving Frank" by Nancy Horner all about Frank Lloyd Wright and his mistress; it as well as "The Paris Wife," demonstrate the incredible sacrifices a companion must make to cajole an artist's tender ego. Not surprisingly I see Nancy Horan endorsed this book and rightfully she should. The writing is so beautifully strong as it exposes lifestyles of creative geniuses. Paula MClain does an amazing job of keeping the reader glued to the perils of this complex couple. Homage is paid to many parts of Europe and sent me to the computer to look at the sites the Hemingway's enjoyed. When a book alights your curiosity you know you have found a treasure.
Though a fictionalized account, the author did extensive research and to my mind didn't make any major mistakes in her accuracy. The tale is riveting because of her ability to breath life into all the major players.
Great novel that I highly endorse.
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377 of 411 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hemingway fans will pass., February 22, 2011
This review is from: The Paris Wife: A Novel (Hardcover)
I didn't know much about Ernest Hemingway or his wives before I started The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. This is the story of his first wife, Hadley; a story of how they met, the depth of their love, and how it came to wither away. Set mainly in Paris during prohibition, McLain paints us a picture of two newlyweds on the cusp of greatness. Perched to seize the world by storm, Hadley and Ernest rock on the edge of several lives: that of the happily married couple, that of the poor writer trying to make a living, and that of disaster brought on by depression and angst.
The positive aspect of Paula McLain's writing is that I forgot this book was about Hemingway's first wife. Meaning I was able to sink into Hadley's mind and Ernest's love and then feel emotional heartbreak as their marriage fell apart. The dialogue for the time period is authentic; quick, sharp, witty and sassy. We are very much inside Hadley's mind and our emotional connection with her is strong, we feel her passions and pains, her desires and needs. We support her entirely. But I also grew sick of her simpering passiveness, waiting for something to happen as she struggles to find her role in Ernest's life. Upon discovering this annoyance half-way through the novel, I was pulled out of it entirely. It made me question how much of what I was reading was actually fact. Was this really how Hem's first wife felt? Was he really this big of an ass?
Beneath my questions of the authenticity of Hadley is Ernest himself, and his pain and waywardness is what drives the story, as it drove their life together. As much as I grew to dislike him, and even Hadley at times, their story is tragically beautiful; so even though there were moments when I felt a lackluster performance from McLain's writing, the story of these two lovers carried me through to the end, like a good love story should.
Fans of historical fiction will enjoy Hadley's story, but Hemingway fans will bypass The Paris Wife in favor of his memoir, which I plan to read now that I know a bit more about the tragedy and triumph of this man, and his wife.
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