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)

A beautiful piece of art.

What did you love best about The Paris Wife?

I loved this story and the performance was outstanding. The voices for each character made it feel more like a play than a book. I loved it!

Great story

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

I initially did not like Carrington MacDuffie's voice and I was almost turned off to continue to listen I thought Carrington MacDuffie's voice was distracting and too eccentric but as I continued to listen her voice didn't bother me and I was very happy I read the book. It was excellent.

What did you like best about this story?

That it was based on Ernest Hemmingway's first wife and it takes you back in time and gives you such a great understanding of him and what it was like for her.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Carrington MacDuffie?

I am not sure.

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

No.

Any additional comments?

No

Simple minded writing, not a great reader

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

No.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I didn't really have a favorite character in the book--I didn't really get interested in them because there was little depth to them.

Did Carrington MacDuffie do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

I'm not a big fan of her rather pleading voice. I have heard her before.

Who was the most memorable character of The Paris Wife and why?

Hemingway's wife--the main character and the focus of the story. Why? Because she put up with him!

Any additional comments?

I stuck it out until the end, but the whole thing was pretty much a bore and a waste of time. I wouldn't recommend it.

Hemingway

Great story about who Hemingway was from the view of his first wife! She loved him

Interesting and entertaining, well read

I really enjoyed this book and find it hard to understand why so many reviewers criticize the reader. I think she does an excellent job and her voice for Hadley and others in the book fits the time period perfectly. The story is fiction but appears to be very much based on fact. It's a fascinating look at an era and many famous characters, such as F Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein etc.

Loved it!!

I like others researched Hemingway's life while listening. I was truly moved by Hadley's plight and her strength! I thoroughly enjoyed the story and loved being swept away to Paris and their other travels.

Narrator’s Voice Didn’t Fit Hadley’s Character

I enjoyed the story, characters, and the writing but the narrator’s voice never did fit the 1st Person POV of Hadley. I would imagine Hadley with a softer, quieter voice as she was quite shy and unsure of herself, especially in the beginning. The narrator has a much more forceful affected voice that didn’t seem right for Hadley. Her voice and style of reading took me out of the story many times throughout the book as did the narrator’s voice for other characters.

I thought I knew Hemmingway.......

Would you listen to The Paris Wife again? Why?

What a fabulous insight into this complicated man. The character

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

The revelation of the shallowness of Hemingway in regard to others in his life.
His singular focus on himself must have caused his depression. It left him
hollow, empty. So sad.

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

The narration is quite simply, PERFECT! The voice of Hadley makes all the difference,
The emotion is so moving.

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

YES! but I couldn't.

Any additional comments?

Fabulous shot of history from a different angle.

Great story, amazing performance

This was a great story, and an amazing performance that really captured the essence of each character!

Interesting piece of histroy

I loved it enjoying learning important people struggle the same as the rest of us.