The Paris Wife

A Novel

By: Paula McLain

Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie

Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife, Hadley.

Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet 28-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. 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 and Zelda Fitzgerald.

Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking and fast-living life of Jazz Age Paris, which hardly values traditional notions of family and monogamy. Surrounded by beautiful women and competing egos, Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history, pouring all the richness and intensity of his life with Hadley and their circle of friends into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises.

Hadley, meanwhile, strives to hold onto her sense of self as the demands of life with Ernest grow costly and her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Despite their extraordinary bond, they eventually 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.

©2011 Paula Mclain (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

“McLain smartly explores Hadley's ambivalence about her role as supportive wife to a budding genius.... Women and book groups are going to eat up this novel.” (USA Today)

“By making the ordinary come to life, McLain has written a beautiful portrait of being in Paris in the glittering 1920s - as a wife and one's own woman.... McLain's vivid, clear-voiced novel is a conjecture, an act of imaginary autobiography on the part of the author. Yet her biographical and geographical research is so deep, and her empathy for the real Hadley Richardson so forthright (without being intrusively femme partisan), that the account reads as very real indeed.” (Entertainment Weekly)

“Written much in the style of Nancy Horan's Loving Frank ... Paula McLain's fictional account of Hemingway's first marriage beautifully captures the sense of despair and faint hope that pervaded the era and their marriage.” (Associated Press)

Compelling story, engaging reader

What does Carrington MacDuffie bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Carrington MacDuffie's voice just seemed to match perfectly with the vision of Hadley that was presented in this book. I think the best way to explain it is to say that when she came on at the end to introduce herself and conclude the book, I was actually kind of shocked to be reminded that this was a person reading the story, I had really come to think of the voice as Hadley's voice.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, it's too long to be listened to all in one setting and I actually liked getting it in chunks so I could research what I could of the actual history in between readings.

Any additional comments?

I would definitely recommend this as an audiobook. Hearing it read by a voice that matched the character so well really brought the story to life. It's always strange reading a book based on actual history - you have to remember that a lot of it, particularly about what people are thinking and feeling, is speculation. However, this book really did a good job of capturing what was real about the time and situations and creating an engaging and captivating story by filling in the blanks.

Fun and Fictional

Would you consider the audio edition of The Paris Wife to be better than the print version?

This particular book was excellent listening material. The story is good, and the writing style easy to follow. This is one I was able to follow in my car driving back and forth to work, without losing any concentration on the road.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Paris Wife?

I enjoyed the portions describing the so called, "Lost Generation". The fast life of partying, sexual liasons and capricious gluttony of those ex-pats, (including F. Scott & Zelda, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein to name a few), put the young celebs of today to shame!

Have you listened to any of Carrington MacDuffie’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was the first time I listened to Carrington MacDuffie narrate. She was alright, but her voice and characterization of Ernest Hemingway was pretty bad.

Any additional comments?

The Paris Wife is historical fiction. It is very entertaining. This novel speaks loudly about the women of those times and how some, like Hadley, could simply not keep up with the changing morays of the Roaring Twenties.

Hemingway history

What made the experience of listening to The Paris Wife the most enjoyable?

The reader's tone was soothing.
I enjoyed knowing that this was a fact based story.

What does Carrington MacDuffie bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

she was able to pronounce the french words beautifully were as I would have had to skip over them.
When reading dialogue she had great intonation and rhythm. I felt like I was listening to people from the 1920's ,

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no. I wanted to savor it.

A biography reinterpreted.

There wasn't much of a story to tell but I finished this book feeling that I could imagine being married to a driven writer. Although not riveting, I found the story interesting enough. I liked it.

Just ok.

I purchased this audiobook solely based on the fact that everyone has read the book. I know another peer pressure book. I think there are a complete mix of reviews for it and honestly I didn't read any of them at all.
The book is written solely from the perceptive of Hadley, a young woman who soon falls in love and marries Earnest Hemmingway. The story from what I gather is pure fiction but I had a hard time with that part. It seemed to be based on so much fact that I had to research the book just to make sure.
The book starts off really boring and Hadley's life before marrying Earnest seemed to be boring and depressing. Escaping to a friends house for a few weeks changes everything and that is when the book gets better.
I had to say this (being the liberated woman that I am) but Earnest added some excitement to her small town life. I wish Hadley would have had a hobby or a interest besides Earnest. Anything to keep her from being a one dimensional person. I should say that she does play the piano but that goes to the waste side for Earnest.
Through Hadley's eye we (the readers) get to see Earnest Hemingway in a new light. The amazing writer that everyone added to their list of Great American Writers is seen as a real person with womanizing and alcoholic demons.
I wish there was more to Hadley and I would have loved to have the beginning be more captivating and exciting.

Strong 3 stars from me

Really enjoyed all aspects of this book and the audible experience. It brings to life Hadley and Ernest’s relationship.

Good story, awful narration

Echoing what's been said before, the narration unfortunately ruins the book. If you know the story of Hadley and Hem, it's fraught with melancholy that simply can't be communicated by the narrator. Most of her sentences end with a slight raising of the voice, making each line sound as if it's completely shocking and possibly the punchline of terrible joke. It reminds me of the way a mother would read to a child - over-animated and juvenile. This is coupled with what I think of as a "Connecticut Boarding School" tone of voice that is very affected. The story is good, but almost impossible to enjoy in this format.

Wonderful

I throughly enjoyed this story. Of course I had read Hemingway many years ago, but did not know much about his personal life. This was a wonderful peek into that life and the atmosphere of Paris during that time. I thought the narrator did a super job of creating an auditory picture.

Good idea well executed

Drawing in part upon The Sun Also Rises and other Hemingway books and stories, the author creates an enaging story about his youth and marriage to first wife Hadley, from her point of view. Great sense of place, not only in Paris but also other locations in France and in Spain.

Not as good as Z (Zelda) but still good

After reading Therese Anne Fowler's Z, about Zelda Fitzgerald, I thought I would give this a try. Not as captivating as Z, The Paris Wife tells the story of Hemingway's first wife. The couple were the grandparents of Joan, Margaux, and Mariel Hemingway, who all had mental health issues. I was searching the book for clues to their past. I didn't find many, other than what I already knew about Hemingway killing himself. In Z, Fowler painted a very rich portrait of the mental health of both Scott and Zelda. It might have been embellished a bit, maybe not. I have no idea. But it was captivating. I wished for a bit more personal feeling in this book. But, maybe the lack of it was more realistic.

The author of this book did a good job of capturing how attraction can be short lived when you do not look for someone who is your intellectual equal, matched in mental health, someone you share core values with, or share common interests other than marrying and having a family. I also enjoyed the depiction of culture at that time. I got a glimpse into what it was like to be (or not be) a modern woman, what it was like to be an artist, writer, and wealthy free spirit.

This book piqued my interest, making me want to read about Hemingway's next 3 marriages.