The Paris Wife

The Paris Wife by Paula Mclain

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.

                    I recently finished "The Paris Wife' and I absolutely couldn't put it down. Paula McLain does an amazing job at making Hadley's love story fell like your own. I grew attached to her romance with Hemmingway because she was so descriptive. She painted a vivid image of their spontaneous life. I would recommend this book to someone who wants to be swept off their feet by indulging in the magic that was Hadley's and Ernest's relationship, but can deal with the heart break of a tragedy.

Rating: 7 out of 10