The Paris Wife

A Novel

By: Paula McLain

Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie

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 twenty-eight-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 on to 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.

A delight for Hemmingway fans

If you've read Hemmingway, you'll find a this book of his life a poinient broken mirror in many pieces depecting many events from his novels in his real life through the eyes of his wife. Beautifully painted famous characters and scenes from Chicago to France among others!

Great story for Hemmingway lovers

Well researched and well written story. I was engrossed the entire time. Definitely one you should check out!

Tugs on heart strings!

What a beautiful book. Written so gently. Giving space for people to make choices and the aftermath. The pain and torture by the beauty that comes from it.

this is a novel that reads like a memoir

I enjoyed reading about post WWI life in Europe. Even though this is a work of fiction,
I felt that I learned much about Ernest Hemingway and the writers of that era.

great story

loved it! Beautiful story-based on facts, but essentially fictional, beautiful narration; really captured the atmosphere of those times.