The Paris Wife

The Paris Wife - Paula McLain This book took me longer to read than I wanted it to. While I enjoyed it while reading it, the story dragged on with day to day minutiae that it often became hard to tell time lines. In fact, so much was told of the day to day that I was surprised to find out in the end that they'd only been married 5 years. The only Ernest Hemingway I knew was in the three books I read in high school. I had no knowledge of Hemingway the man, and I knew nothing of his personal life other than that he was in WWI. It turns out that he was quite the asshole. As any great artist, he was selfish, egotistical, and delusional. Hadley kept him from being alone, and therfore kept him from being lonely, but he only wanted her there when he wanted her there. Many times in the book she frustrated me by telling me how "Victorian", "Provincial", and "Un-modern" she was. I get it, she was quiet, submissive, and conservative. But she was also weak. She, too, was so afraid to be alone that she allowed herself to be used and tossed side for a newer model. In this time of alcohol laden excess, why she would invite a single friend on holiday with her and her her husband I'll never understand. After seeing him sniff after "Lady" Duff, why she would not secure her relationship I'll never understand. Allowing Pfifi to pretend nothing was wrong, allowing herself to be placed into a love triangle, allowing her husband to copulate in the bed right next to her, and never finding her voice, made me so angry at her! But, honestly, Ernest was one that could never be "kept". He married, cheated, divorced, and married 4 women, and had relationships with more. He lived a very sad and tortured life in my opinion, but one that Paula McClain gave an unbiased accounting of. While Ernest may be her one great love, in the end, Hadley found a lasting partnership. This book made me Google to find out if the events were true, and to know more about Hemingway and his many wives. I found it to be a very interesting novel.