“A beautiful portrait of being in Paris in the glittering 1920s—as a wife and as one’s own woman.”—Entertainment Weekly
A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures the love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.
Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and … love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking, fast-living, and free-loving life of Jazz Age Paris. As Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history and pours himself into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises, Hadley strives to hold on to her sense of self as her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Eventually they find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.
A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.
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Initially I was very excited about reading this book. I’d added it to my Goodreads TBR list some time ago. Then I stumbled across a second hand copy, and went to Goodreads to amend it to “Am Reading”, which is when I saw the vast array of differing reviews, so I started the book not at all sure how I was going to feel about it.
I am definitely in …
I enjoyed reading the backstory of Hemingway, and so many things I did not know about him and his first wife. Especially interesting was their beginning years, and how she supported him throughout. Since she was older, their story is similar to Charmian London with Jack London, 5 years his senior. An older woman managing their writer’s lives and …
Beautifully written book with insight in the lives of some of the century’s most influential writers. Highly recommend.
Perfect for fans of Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris”!
I did not want this book to end – and aren’t those the best books to find? Paula McLain brings texture and wonder to Ernest Hemingway’s life in Paris through the lens of his first wife, Hadley. From their first meeting in St. Louis, to the life they built together in Paris as a married couple, this story about Ernest and Hadley reminds us how …
This is another of my all-time favorite historical novels, the second one with “Paris” in the title. The Paris Wife is a fictionalized account of Ernest Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley, and their lives together in France. I confess to a weakness for anything about Hemingway, but this book along with Beautiful Exiles by Meg Waite Clayton is a top …
The story of Hemingway’s first wife—and first marriage—elegantly told. Evokes the creative exuberance of Paris in the Twenties.
The Paris wife is about Hadley Richardson and her relation ship with Ernest Hemingway. It is a fictional account of their life together with quite a bit of facts thrown in for good measure. Hadley was 28 when she met and fell in love with Ernest, who was 22. She had given up on love and her life really. After a whirlwind wedding and move to Paris, …
I’ll admit it. I’ve never read anything by Hemingway, though I’ve quoted him (“The first draft of anything is sh*t”), knew he was much revered as an author, that he committed suicide, and that he had a bunch of cats.
The Paris Wife is before all of that, and the voice of Hadley, his first wife, rings true and clear as the narrator of this utterly …
The Paris Wife is about Ernest Hemingway’s troubled first marriage to Hadley Richardson, a delightful young woman who is blinded by Ernest’s love for her till the very bitter end. The book was very enjoyable and I enjoyed reading about Hadley’s side of the story. The book is an easy read and does not have a hard storyline to follow, though it does …
Interesting read. I loved learning more about Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley. My heart just ached for Hadley. But I was glad to learn that her life ended up positively.
Ernest and Hadley’s whirlwind courtship, marriage, and their lives living abroad was interesting. This book brought out information about their relationship with …
I really enjoyed this novel told from the point of view of Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley. I never knew anything about her and I was immediately swept into the Hemingway sphere. I enjoyed this so much I now want to read Hemingway’s book, A Moveable Feast to hear his side of the story.
If there were 10 stars, that would be my rating. Beautifully written. Loved Little Cat as a person, a woman, an American. Living with a huge, untamed albeit brilliant mind requires steadfast love by both husband & wife.
I have read most of Hemingway’s stuff but this book introduced me to start of his career, his first wife, his second wife, Gertrude Stein, Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald among others. The lost generation of Paris in the 20’s. The running of the bulls in Pamplona and other experiences. Absolutely loved this book
Never knew much about Hemingway and his wives. This a story of his first wife and their love story. A very enjoyable read.
I loved reading about the difficult marriage between Ernest Hemingway and his wife. I’d always wondered what it was like to be married to someone brilliant but ego-driven.
Loved getting to know Hadley and Ernest!
This story of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley, is fascinating and illuminating. The best part of the book is the descriptions of life in Paris during the early and mid-twenties.
Told from the wife’s perspective, this is the story of Ernest Hemmingway’s first marriage to Hadley Richardson and their together life as he struggled to establish himself amongst the bohemian literary set of 1920s Paris.
The book is beautifully written and obviously very well researched. McLain succeeds in evoking the spirit of the age along with …
I’ve found an interesting he said/she said pair of books. Published after Ernest Hemingway’s death, “A Moveable Feast” is his memoir of his experience starting as a writer in 1920’s Paris, with his wife Hadley Richardson. It was put together by his fourth wife, Mary Welsh, who edited his personal manuscripts and notes containing his observations …
This book got me into historical fiction. I’m a fan and student of Hemingway’s stories, so after A Movable Feast was looking to fill in more of the gaps. This book, chronicling (fictionally) his wife’s story does the trick. Might turn you onto the genre as well.