Having read Hemingway's A Moveable Feast and Diliberto's Paris Without End, I was pretty familiar with the story of Hemingway and his first wife Hadley Richardson. But it's an engaging story, certainly good enough for fiction so I was curious what McLain would make of it.

I would say she did very well. There is dialogue and there are events that she probably invented, although I wouldn't know how much might have been recorded in letters, etc. Still, even if you knew more or less what happened in that relationship, this fictional account of it is very believable -- that it to say, she doesn't put in anything that you know is just plain wrong and that would put you off. I hate when writers of historical fiction do that.

In fact, her relaying the story of the first Hemingway marriage through Hadley's voice is compelling and believable. You don't come out of it necessarily hating Hemingway's guts, as one might very well do upon reading a factual account of his betrayal of Hadley. No, you see it through her eyes and her eyes were very forgiving. She managed to get on with her life, and from all accounts, had a far happier life than Hemingway did with a very successful second marriage. But I don't think she ever hated Heminway and seemed to be able to sympathize with him throughout her ordeal and later throughout her life. ( )

The Paris Wife is the story of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley. They lived in Paris for most of their marriage. They were friends with many of the writers who were popular in the 1920's. Even though it is fiction the author chose to stay true to events of their lives during their marriage. For most of their time together Ernest was an unknown. He was trying to sell his first book. They lived rather simply and traveled to much of Europe. If you are interested in the Jazz Age and the writers of the 20's this would be an enjoyable read. ( )

Loved this book! It's one of my favorite historical time periods and I LOVE the Lost Generation. Definitely recommend! ( )

Through the eyes of Hadley Richardson, Hemmingway's first wife, McLean gives the reader a look into jazz age Paris prior to WWI, its cafe society, and some of the anarchists and American ex-pats who were a part of that scene. ( )

I probably finished this a few weeks ago, had to set it aside for library books to read. It was very good, I knew very little about Ernest H's life. Although fiction, it still gave a good glimpse into their lifestyle and relationships, which I found interesting, and also depressing.

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