On My Bookshelf...

It's time for a book review or two. I am a little behind on telling you what I've been reading lately. Three recent finishes are The Paris Wife by Paula McLain,  The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom and That Forgetful Shore by Trudy J. Morgan-Cole.
First, The Paris Wife.

I knew little of Ernest Hemingway, other than that he had several marriages, was known as a "womanizer", had a problem with alcohol and that he eventually committed suicide.  The Paris Wife is the story of his first marriage, to Hadley Richardson. McLain extensively researched Hemingway's novels, biographies and letters to write this fictional account of their rollercoaster five year relationship. It is told from Hadley's perspective and offers an "inside view" of the life they led in Paris during prohibition, as Hemingway struggled to become a writer of note. Seven years his senior, Hadley was reclusive when she was courted by the young Hem, just home from the Great War and suffering from trauma and its aftereffects. She was a devoted wife and sacrificed her own ambitions to support the needy and egocentric Ernest, assuring him he would be a successful writer. Their life in the Latin Quarter with the "in crowd" of writers and artists (Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce and others), the partying and heavy drinking, travels to Spain and Austria while living hand to mouth, the bull fights and horse races are embraced by Hadley, but the glamourous life eventually starts to fade. One cannot help but feel her heartbreak as Hem's possessiveness, moodiness and a mistress all contribute to the disintegration of their marriage, despite her best efforts to save it. I won't give away any more details, but if you like Hemingway, I'm sure you'd enjoy this account of his early years as a writer and his first (of four) marriages.
Next - That Forgetful Shore. 

Peace,
Linda

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” ~ Ernest Hemingway