'The Paris Wife' by Paula McLain

The Paris Wife, Paula McLain (3.5)

If you enjoyed the movie ‘Midnight in Paris’, this book will have a special attraction for you.  It is a novel based on Ernest Hemingway’s first marriage, as told through the eyes of Hadley, his first wife.  They meet in the US, but immediately head to Paris after their wedding to start their life and his writing career.  The characters in their life are many of the writers that were highlighted in ‘Midnight in Paris’ such as Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald.  I am not a huge fan of historical fiction as it blurs reality and the reader is easily swayed to believe all words and actions really happened.  In this case, Paula McLain obviously made some assumptions with day-to-day occurrences, but she is benefited by a wealth of documents (letters and memoirs) from the two main people.  Not only was Hemingway prolific during this time, but also he was often autobiographical (‘The Sun Also Rises’) and followed up with a memoir.  While Hemingway’s writing can be admired, his personal life (4 wives, mental illness and suicide) is not impressive.  I’ve never been particularly interested in him as a person and he did not redeem himself at the end of this book, but I did find the beginning of his marriage touching and interesting.  As with ‘Midnight in Paris’ you find yourself yearning for that simpler time when you could sail to Paris, live on little to no salary and take a train to Switzerland for a few weeks of skiing to clear your head!