The Paris Wife by Paula McLainMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
For someone that is a huge Hemingway fan, this would have been a spectacular novel. For a person that has never touched a Hemingway book (shame), this book just turned out to be very dry historical fiction for me. This book came off like a travel journal instead of the emotional narrative that I was expecting. Most of the chapters are written in a very flat format that really didn't appeal to me: "we went to Spain, we met these new people, and we did all this cool stuff with them so Ernest could write his novels". Neither of the main characters (Hadley/Ernest) really appealed to me. Hadley obviously had a problem with the way their relationship was turning out, but she still stuck with him (+mistress) for 5 years. I understand that the feminist movement is not what it is today, but she never even bothered to communicate her feelings. Sometimes, Ernest would leave for a couple of days and they would be "fine" again upon the return.
My favorite part of the novel was the ending. They finally figured it out that the relationship wasn't working and decided to get a divorce (spoiler? But not really because Ernest Hemingway had like four wives). The epilogue was pretty spectacular. At the end, she still loves him for the part of her life she was with him, but she ultimately ends up finding a more sustainable relationship.
Overall rating: 3 Stars
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