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Mrs. Hemingway
A riveting tale of passion, love, and heartbreak, Mrs. Hemingway reveals the explosive love triangles that wrecked each of Hemingway's marriages.
The Paris Wife was only the beginning of the story...
Paula McLain's New York Times bestselling novel piqued readers' interest about Ernest Hemingway's romantic life. But Hadley was only one of four women married, in turn, to the legendary writer. Just as T.C. Boyle's bestseller The Women completed the picture begun by Nancy Horan's Loving Frank, Naomi Wood's Mrs. Hemingway tells the story of how it was to love, and be loved by, the most famous and dashing writer of his generation. Hadley, Pauline, Martha and Mary: each Mrs. Hemingway thought their love would last forever; each one was wrong.
Told in four parts and based on real love letters and telegrams, Mrs. Hemingway reveals the explosive love triangles that wrecked each of Hemingway's marriages. Spanning 1920s bohemian Paris through 1960s Cold War America, populated with members of the fabled "Lost Generation," Mrs. Heminway is a riveting tale of passion, love, and heartbreak.
The Paris Wife was only the beginning of the story...
Paula McLain's New York Times bestselling novel piqued readers' interest about Ernest Hemingway's romantic life. But Hadley was only one of four women married, in turn, to the legendary writer. Just as T.C. Boyle's bestseller The Women completed the picture begun by Nancy Horan's Loving Frank, Naomi Wood's Mrs. Hemingway tells the story of how it was to love, and be loved by, the most famous and dashing writer of his generation. Hadley, Pauline, Martha and Mary: each Mrs. Hemingway thought their love would last forever; each one was wrong.
Told in four parts and based on real love letters and telegrams, Mrs. Hemingway reveals the explosive love triangles that wrecked each of Hemingway's marriages. Spanning 1920s bohemian Paris through 1960s Cold War America, populated with members of the fabled "Lost Generation," Mrs. Heminway is a riveting tale of passion, love, and heartbreak.
322 pages, Paperback
First published May 27, 2014
767 people are currently reading
8,567 people want to read
About the author
Naomi Wood
15Ìýbooks211ÌýfollowersNaomi Wood was born in 1983 and lives in London. She studied at Cambridge and at UEA for her MA in Creative Writing. Originally from York, she has gone on to live in Hong Kong, Paris and Washington DC. She is the author of The Godless Boys, Mrs. Hemingway and The Hiding Game. This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things is her first short story collection, and is coming out in April 2024.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 994 reviews
May 30, 2014
When I read , a year or so ago, at book's end I was convinced that Ernest Hemingway was a self-centered jerk. This book, detailing the marriages and first meeting swith the man, presented a refreshingly whole picture, one that I felt gave the reader a better and maybe more fair portrait of this complicated author.
I probably knew the least about his last wife Mary and apparently she is the only wife to pen her own memoir about their marriage called [[book:How It Was|2519224]. I loved how Wood told this story, clear and easy to read but with some beautiful passages and insightful words. Each wife has her own section, but many times they overlap. She does skip around a bit, starting each section at the end of the wives marriage and than going back to the beginning. The overlap seemed to be as his life was lived, often wife and mistress were together, especially in the case of Hadley and Fife, and again with Fife and Martha. I had recently finished a book called and was happily surprised to find this hotel mentioned in the book, and Martha and Ernest's meeting there. Ernest apparently liberated the wine cellars. Wood has treated all her characters gently and with respect, not taking sides.
After reading this I now find Hemingway a brilliant but tortured man. He never really fell out of love with any of his wives, felt regretful for the way they had ended. He was insecure, wanted attention and drank like a fish. A habit that did not serve his mental illness well and that contributed greatly to his depressed and paranoid state and of course to his eventual death.
There is an afterward but does not detail what was true and what was not, just stating that much of it was true, and much of it was fiction. She does point out particular books to read if the reader is so inclined. All in all I thought she did a wonderful job.
ARC from publisher.
I probably knew the least about his last wife Mary and apparently she is the only wife to pen her own memoir about their marriage called [[book:How It Was|2519224]. I loved how Wood told this story, clear and easy to read but with some beautiful passages and insightful words. Each wife has her own section, but many times they overlap. She does skip around a bit, starting each section at the end of the wives marriage and than going back to the beginning. The overlap seemed to be as his life was lived, often wife and mistress were together, especially in the case of Hadley and Fife, and again with Fife and Martha. I had recently finished a book called and was happily surprised to find this hotel mentioned in the book, and Martha and Ernest's meeting there. Ernest apparently liberated the wine cellars. Wood has treated all her characters gently and with respect, not taking sides.
After reading this I now find Hemingway a brilliant but tortured man. He never really fell out of love with any of his wives, felt regretful for the way they had ended. He was insecure, wanted attention and drank like a fish. A habit that did not serve his mental illness well and that contributed greatly to his depressed and paranoid state and of course to his eventual death.
There is an afterward but does not detail what was true and what was not, just stating that much of it was true, and much of it was fiction. She does point out particular books to read if the reader is so inclined. All in all I thought she did a wonderful job.
ARC from publisher.
March 7, 2016
There’s recently been a slew of novels about authors and their spouses. And if you do a little sleuth work here you’ll discover that a novel about a literary celebrity will outsell a hundredfold all the authors previous novels. So it’s clearly a very good career move for a novelist whose work has failed to make any mark. Write a novel about Virginia Woolf, Zelda Fitzgerald or in this case Hemingway’s wives and a store of interest and emotion is already prepared, as if microwaved. So you sense there’s a whiff of cynicism behind these books, like the literary equivalent of the boy band manufactured and groomed by a corporation sales team. That would be counteracted if the writing of the novel was a genuine act of love, a full spirited attempt to shed some new light on the book’s subject. I’m afraid I did not find this the case with Mrs Hemingway. I don’t know that much about Hemingway and, after finishing this book, I still don’t. I know quite a lot about Scott and Zelda and the depiction of those two in this novel could not have been any more wooden, vapid and clichéd. It’s like the only research Wood did was to read A Moveable Feast. Obviously she researched her wives better and the best bits of the novel are interior female moments and ornamental scene setting description. Essentially Wood writes about the wives entirely in relation to Hemingway as if they had no other existence. And in particular, in relation to falling for him and then losing him. She writes the beginning and the end of each marriage. The formula is repeated four times and because the emotions of falling in love and betrayal are essentially universal it’s like we’re getting four slightly different accounts of the same event. The biggest failing of all though was the dialogue. The dialogue in this book is slapdash, belongs in a chitlick novel and lacks any sophistication which is pretty damning when among your characters you have some of the 20th century’s most sophisticated talkers.
Basically if you want to read about Hemingway and his wives I’d advise a biography.
Basically if you want to read about Hemingway and his wives I’d advise a biography.
August 5, 2024
(4.5) “What a pull he has! What a magnetism! Women jump off balconies and follow him into wars. Women turn their eyes from an affair, because a marriage of three is better than a woman alone.�
I have a soft spot for ‘famous wives� books, and this is a great one. Wood does a fantastic job of using the close third-person to shift into the perspectives of all four Hemingway wives, gently leading the reader into sympathy with each one in turn. Unlike many of the novels in the subgenre, this one also gives you a clear sense of the man himself � the dialogue really sounds like him.
Wood’s strategy in all four sections is to switch back and forth (effortlessly, it seems) between the end of the affair and its inception � a very effective way of contrasting the glittering Hemingway allure with the darker reality of marriage to a mercurial alcoholic. “Sometimes there’s this feeling of things being repeated,� Ernest confesses here. “I put the needle on the same place in the same track and I expect a different tune.� He loved being in love; he loved the thrill of a new romance. But marriage was, inevitably, a different story.
I loved the way Wood’s metaphorical language takes up two of Papa’s great loves besides women, fishing and drink: “Fife imagines herself as one of his sailfish, hooked in at the mouth�; “An ice cube splinters in the fizz—it sounds like a breaking bone.�
(My favorite sections were about Hadley and Fife � even though these two were the most familiar to me from The Paris Wife and A Moveable Feast.)
For more, see two of my recent BookTrib articles:
�: Literary Wives Take Center Stage� &
�: ‘Significant others� are filling the bookstore shelves�
and my famous wives bookshelf.
I have a soft spot for ‘famous wives� books, and this is a great one. Wood does a fantastic job of using the close third-person to shift into the perspectives of all four Hemingway wives, gently leading the reader into sympathy with each one in turn. Unlike many of the novels in the subgenre, this one also gives you a clear sense of the man himself � the dialogue really sounds like him.
Wood’s strategy in all four sections is to switch back and forth (effortlessly, it seems) between the end of the affair and its inception � a very effective way of contrasting the glittering Hemingway allure with the darker reality of marriage to a mercurial alcoholic. “Sometimes there’s this feeling of things being repeated,� Ernest confesses here. “I put the needle on the same place in the same track and I expect a different tune.� He loved being in love; he loved the thrill of a new romance. But marriage was, inevitably, a different story.
I loved the way Wood’s metaphorical language takes up two of Papa’s great loves besides women, fishing and drink: “Fife imagines herself as one of his sailfish, hooked in at the mouth�; “An ice cube splinters in the fizz—it sounds like a breaking bone.�
(My favorite sections were about Hadley and Fife � even though these two were the most familiar to me from The Paris Wife and A Moveable Feast.)
For more, see two of my recent BookTrib articles:
�: Literary Wives Take Center Stage� &
�: ‘Significant others� are filling the bookstore shelves�
and my famous wives bookshelf.
June 8, 2020
[3.5] Well done novel about Hemingway's four wives and the magnetic pull he had. I found it fascinating that in varying degrees, they stayed in touch with each other.
January 21, 2018
The extent to which I enjoyed this book really surprised me. Nowadays there are so many books about the wives of celebrated men. This is one of the better ones.
What this book does exceptionally well is capture the emotions and thoughts of Ernest Hemingway’s wives. Who were these women? What were their personalities? How did each of these women see life with this creative, but self-centered and troubled man? Let’s call him for what he is, a prima donna, but as this book also shows he had an attraction extremely hard to resist.
“What a pull he has! What a magnetism! Women jump off balconies and follow him into wars. Women turn their eyes from an affair, because a marriage of three is better than a woman alone.�
These are his four wives, starting with the first and ending with the last:
*Hadley Richardson (Hash) married to E.H. 1921-1927
*Pauline Pfeiffer (Fife) married to E.H., and only to him, 1927-1940
*Martha Gellhorn married to E.H. 1940-1945 and finally
*Mary Welsh Hemingway married to E.H. from 1946 until his death in 1961.
Mistresses and wives were Ernest’s hobbies, alongside fishing, boating and hunting. He did love those bullfights too. Partying, drinking and struggling with his writing were the ingredients of his life. The man was macho to the extreme. At the same time, he was insecure and unsure of himself. A man of contradictions.
I have read most of Hemingway’s books and like very much the strength of his writing. I have read some biographies too, but not as many as I would like. Clearly the book is well researched. While the book's prime focus is on the wives, details about his life are accurately presented too. To understand him, one needs to understand them! And vice versa. I am able to appreciate his writing, feel compassion for the man and still dislike many of his qualities. I believe the more you know about a person the easier it is too feel compassion.
Although this is a book of historical fiction, I find nothing mispresented. It is said that the author has had access to existing love letters and telegrams.
What I particularly like about this book is how convincingly each of the wives´ feelings and thoughts are portrayed. What each one says and does feels perfect for who they are. Each one has a unique personality. Hash was mousey, too quiet and too reserved for the boisterous, party-goer Ernest. Fife was a better match, and she loved him with a vengeance. Martha was tough and strong, not about to be sidetracked from her goals and ambitions. She had no intention of ever giving up her career. She is today considered one of the best war correspondents of the 20th century. Both Martha and Mary were already married when they met Ernest. Both were journalists. The only one of the four that I felt some distance to was Mary, and yet the part about her is extremely interesting because it deals with Ernest’s death, whether .
The kids, their lives are not covered in great detail. Ernest had one son by Hash and two by Fife. Ernest was set on a girl with Mary, but it never came to be.
How the story is told is rather unusual. Once I got the hang of it, I liked it. There are four sections, one for each of the wives, starting with the first and ending with the last. Each section consists of chapters given titles that designate the date and place of that chapter’s events. We visit Paris and Antibes in France, Key West, Arkansas, Wyoming, and Ketchum, Idaho, in the USA, Madrid, Havana and London. For each wife we begin at a date when the marriage has begun to fall apart, so near the end of the marriage rather than at the beginning. We return repeatedly to this date. Also within each wife’s section, we are given flashbacks to earlier times when the relationship had been alternately thriving or ailing. We see the end, the beginning and the middle, the good and the bad. In that the wife next in line is always Ernest’s mistress while still married to the last, one sees how one follows from the other. The reader experiences the progression from one wife to the next and the overlap that characterized all of Ernest’s relationships. One sees patterns and one can pinpoint differences. Hatred and jealousy, and friendship too, developed between the women.
The writing is good. Not only is the personality of each drawn well, but also what they say fits who they are. Good dialogs. Ernest sounds like the guy he is. The author uses metaphors well. Sample this: “Fife imagines herself as one of his sailfish, hooked in at the mouth.�
Humor is thrown in too. In Paris, Martha borrows from Sylvia Beach by . What does Sylvia say? "Just remember not to try too hard with understanding it. Like people, they're best not to be too thoroughly understood.� She is referring to Joyce’s books. If you have read his books, you are sure to catch the humor!
Kate Reading very well reads the audiobook. There is nothing to mention other than to state that she has a lilt that is very much her own. It is special. The French is well pronounced. The reading is clear and easy to follow.
Related books I have read or would like to read:
4 stars
3 stars
by !
3 stars
2 stars
Which induced me to stop the series!
What this book does exceptionally well is capture the emotions and thoughts of Ernest Hemingway’s wives. Who were these women? What were their personalities? How did each of these women see life with this creative, but self-centered and troubled man? Let’s call him for what he is, a prima donna, but as this book also shows he had an attraction extremely hard to resist.
“What a pull he has! What a magnetism! Women jump off balconies and follow him into wars. Women turn their eyes from an affair, because a marriage of three is better than a woman alone.�
These are his four wives, starting with the first and ending with the last:
*Hadley Richardson (Hash) married to E.H. 1921-1927
*Pauline Pfeiffer (Fife) married to E.H., and only to him, 1927-1940
*Martha Gellhorn married to E.H. 1940-1945 and finally
*Mary Welsh Hemingway married to E.H. from 1946 until his death in 1961.
Mistresses and wives were Ernest’s hobbies, alongside fishing, boating and hunting. He did love those bullfights too. Partying, drinking and struggling with his writing were the ingredients of his life. The man was macho to the extreme. At the same time, he was insecure and unsure of himself. A man of contradictions.
I have read most of Hemingway’s books and like very much the strength of his writing. I have read some biographies too, but not as many as I would like. Clearly the book is well researched. While the book's prime focus is on the wives, details about his life are accurately presented too. To understand him, one needs to understand them! And vice versa. I am able to appreciate his writing, feel compassion for the man and still dislike many of his qualities. I believe the more you know about a person the easier it is too feel compassion.
Although this is a book of historical fiction, I find nothing mispresented. It is said that the author has had access to existing love letters and telegrams.
What I particularly like about this book is how convincingly each of the wives´ feelings and thoughts are portrayed. What each one says and does feels perfect for who they are. Each one has a unique personality. Hash was mousey, too quiet and too reserved for the boisterous, party-goer Ernest. Fife was a better match, and she loved him with a vengeance. Martha was tough and strong, not about to be sidetracked from her goals and ambitions. She had no intention of ever giving up her career. She is today considered one of the best war correspondents of the 20th century. Both Martha and Mary were already married when they met Ernest. Both were journalists. The only one of the four that I felt some distance to was Mary, and yet the part about her is extremely interesting because it deals with Ernest’s death, whether .
The kids, their lives are not covered in great detail. Ernest had one son by Hash and two by Fife. Ernest was set on a girl with Mary, but it never came to be.
How the story is told is rather unusual. Once I got the hang of it, I liked it. There are four sections, one for each of the wives, starting with the first and ending with the last. Each section consists of chapters given titles that designate the date and place of that chapter’s events. We visit Paris and Antibes in France, Key West, Arkansas, Wyoming, and Ketchum, Idaho, in the USA, Madrid, Havana and London. For each wife we begin at a date when the marriage has begun to fall apart, so near the end of the marriage rather than at the beginning. We return repeatedly to this date. Also within each wife’s section, we are given flashbacks to earlier times when the relationship had been alternately thriving or ailing. We see the end, the beginning and the middle, the good and the bad. In that the wife next in line is always Ernest’s mistress while still married to the last, one sees how one follows from the other. The reader experiences the progression from one wife to the next and the overlap that characterized all of Ernest’s relationships. One sees patterns and one can pinpoint differences. Hatred and jealousy, and friendship too, developed between the women.
The writing is good. Not only is the personality of each drawn well, but also what they say fits who they are. Good dialogs. Ernest sounds like the guy he is. The author uses metaphors well. Sample this: “Fife imagines herself as one of his sailfish, hooked in at the mouth.�
Humor is thrown in too. In Paris, Martha borrows from Sylvia Beach by . What does Sylvia say? "Just remember not to try too hard with understanding it. Like people, they're best not to be too thoroughly understood.� She is referring to Joyce’s books. If you have read his books, you are sure to catch the humor!
Kate Reading very well reads the audiobook. There is nothing to mention other than to state that she has a lilt that is very much her own. It is special. The French is well pronounced. The reading is clear and easy to follow.
Related books I have read or would like to read:
4 stars
3 stars
by !
3 stars
2 stars
Which induced me to stop the series!
June 3, 2022
This book was interesting and well constructed. But not quite as new on the market as I had thought. It was actually written in 2014. The book is written in four parts, from the point of view of the four wives of Ernest Hemmingway. What is interesting about it, is that you wonder about the psychology of a man who deeply loved his wives, but as much as he did love each of them, could not stop himself from falling in love and marrying again, literally bringing the next wife into the marriage, and creating threesomes, before inevitably moving to the next wife. And of course, with four very different women, one wonders who would fall in love with a a guy like this? Why did each of the wives believe that their affair was the last, and that they would each be the Last Mrs. Hemmingway? They all loved him, and in fact their love of him, brought them close with one another. Many of them stayed quite close to one another, trying to "help" him.
Naturally, one of the questions that is always asked, is was there one he loved the most? It has been widely reported that he never lost his love for his first wife Hadley, and although she may have been the least exciting and shiny, somehow she had the original and lifetime hold on him. Although the argument could be made for Pauline/Fife and Martha as well. He was charming, enigmatic, mysterious, and he got women to love him, and want to be with him forever. It's baffling to think about, but when you read about it from each of the women's point of view, one can understand something. There is a pull to Ernest, and each of them felt it. And each were left and bereft after what felt like an all encompassing love.
I read Paula MacLaine's two books, the Paris Wife, and the one that centered on Martha Gelhorn. They were both great, so some of this was familiar ground. But like "midrash" these women filled in the gaps. It was light, fairly quick, and kind of a taste of each of them, but really the story of a particular kind of love and dynamic. It captured my attention, and I found I wanted to know. What was also interesting, was the way the friends, Sylvia Beach, how others watched this happen, and were forced into bearing witness to how these relationships worked and transformed. I found the book interesting and enjoyable.
Naturally, one of the questions that is always asked, is was there one he loved the most? It has been widely reported that he never lost his love for his first wife Hadley, and although she may have been the least exciting and shiny, somehow she had the original and lifetime hold on him. Although the argument could be made for Pauline/Fife and Martha as well. He was charming, enigmatic, mysterious, and he got women to love him, and want to be with him forever. It's baffling to think about, but when you read about it from each of the women's point of view, one can understand something. There is a pull to Ernest, and each of them felt it. And each were left and bereft after what felt like an all encompassing love.
I read Paula MacLaine's two books, the Paris Wife, and the one that centered on Martha Gelhorn. They were both great, so some of this was familiar ground. But like "midrash" these women filled in the gaps. It was light, fairly quick, and kind of a taste of each of them, but really the story of a particular kind of love and dynamic. It captured my attention, and I found I wanted to know. What was also interesting, was the way the friends, Sylvia Beach, how others watched this happen, and were forced into bearing witness to how these relationships worked and transformed. I found the book interesting and enjoyable.
April 28, 2014
Naomi Woods writes wonderful prose. Her style is succinct and spare, yet gorgeously metaphoric, like a skeletal Jazz-age flapper, bejewelled and beautifully dressed and very little flesh on her bones. But I found the structure - tracking backwards and forwards through time - more than a little annoying at first. I couldn't see the point: it felt contrived, a little too clever, unnecessarily complicated. About 5 chapters in, I got it, and a complex, satisfying, absorbing novel emerged.
This is Hemingway's history told through his wives: a marriage with four faces, there are no gaps between them; one wife is already blurring into focus as the other is fading away. It is a tour de force of characterisation: too easy to forget you're reading a novel, a work of the imagination and not a biography of Hadley, Fife, Martha and Mary, who are the heart and soul of this story. Hemingway himself is the weakest presence, a shadowy being who blows through the lives of his wives like a Sirocco: hot tempered; unpredictable; frequently absent. The impression is of a spoiled, self-centred being of enormous entitlement and arrogance - and of course, this is a novel, not a biography. But. It feels very real, very well researched and left me wondering why - even with the baggage of fame and glamour and eventual fortune - any of them ever married him.
This is Hemingway's history told through his wives: a marriage with four faces, there are no gaps between them; one wife is already blurring into focus as the other is fading away. It is a tour de force of characterisation: too easy to forget you're reading a novel, a work of the imagination and not a biography of Hadley, Fife, Martha and Mary, who are the heart and soul of this story. Hemingway himself is the weakest presence, a shadowy being who blows through the lives of his wives like a Sirocco: hot tempered; unpredictable; frequently absent. The impression is of a spoiled, self-centred being of enormous entitlement and arrogance - and of course, this is a novel, not a biography. But. It feels very real, very well researched and left me wondering why - even with the baggage of fame and glamour and eventual fortune - any of them ever married him.
August 7, 2018
'And the world is done'
Mrs Hemingway is a novel that I absolutely devoured as I was transported back to a time that has always held great fascination for me. Naomi Wood has brought the lives of the four Mrs. Hemingways together in this imagined account of the complex life of a very complicated and troubled man, Ernest Hemingway.
Having read a variety of books from this era, I am always attracted to the lives of The Lost Generation. There is always something so very fragile about them. The decadence of their party lifestyle was always against a backdrop of a deep sadness and, what appeared to be, a general unhappiness
Naomi Wood has taken factual information and built this incredible story around these four very different women who all had one thing in common, their love for a great man, a man who was never truly available for them to love.
Mrs Hemingway spans the years between 1926 and 1961 as we get an insight into the lives of Hadley Richardson, Pauline Pfeiffer, Martha Gellhorn and Mary Welsh.
It's a very heartbreaking tale in many ways as we witness the demise of a man who was so loved by many but was always hungry for more. Ernest Hemingway's life will continue to fascinate. There is something enigmatic about his personality that, even now so many years later, draws people in.
I loved Mrs Hemingway, as I knew I would, and it inspired me immediately to purchase For Whom the Bell Tolls, the novel Ernest Hemingway dedicated to Martha Gellhorn.
My fascination with The Lost Generation continues....
Mrs Hemingway is a novel that I absolutely devoured as I was transported back to a time that has always held great fascination for me. Naomi Wood has brought the lives of the four Mrs. Hemingways together in this imagined account of the complex life of a very complicated and troubled man, Ernest Hemingway.
Having read a variety of books from this era, I am always attracted to the lives of The Lost Generation. There is always something so very fragile about them. The decadence of their party lifestyle was always against a backdrop of a deep sadness and, what appeared to be, a general unhappiness
Naomi Wood has taken factual information and built this incredible story around these four very different women who all had one thing in common, their love for a great man, a man who was never truly available for them to love.
Mrs Hemingway spans the years between 1926 and 1961 as we get an insight into the lives of Hadley Richardson, Pauline Pfeiffer, Martha Gellhorn and Mary Welsh.
It's a very heartbreaking tale in many ways as we witness the demise of a man who was so loved by many but was always hungry for more. Ernest Hemingway's life will continue to fascinate. There is something enigmatic about his personality that, even now so many years later, draws people in.
I loved Mrs Hemingway, as I knew I would, and it inspired me immediately to purchase For Whom the Bell Tolls, the novel Ernest Hemingway dedicated to Martha Gellhorn.
My fascination with The Lost Generation continues....
October 10, 2022
A good number of years ago I read The Paris Wife by Paula McLain, about Hadley Richardson, Ernest Hemingway’s first wife. I was totally absorbed by this book and it even lead me to read A Moveable Feast by Hemingway.
Hemingway married four times, so The Paris Wife was only the beginning.....
In this novel by Naomi Wood she tells the story of all of Hemingway’s wives. The book is split into sections, one for each wife; Hadley Richardson, Pauline Pfeiffer, Martha Gellhorn and Mary Walsh.
I loved the way the history of the time is threading amongst the ups and downs of these relationships. A fascinating read and it’s kindled my interest for this period again.
For anyone interested, Villa America by Liza Klaussmann, is also an excellent read. Not solely about Hemingway but set in a villa where Fitzgerald, Picasso, Cole Porter and Ernest Hemingway are guest for the summer.
Hemingway married four times, so The Paris Wife was only the beginning.....
In this novel by Naomi Wood she tells the story of all of Hemingway’s wives. The book is split into sections, one for each wife; Hadley Richardson, Pauline Pfeiffer, Martha Gellhorn and Mary Walsh.
I loved the way the history of the time is threading amongst the ups and downs of these relationships. A fascinating read and it’s kindled my interest for this period again.
For anyone interested, Villa America by Liza Klaussmann, is also an excellent read. Not solely about Hemingway but set in a villa where Fitzgerald, Picasso, Cole Porter and Ernest Hemingway are guest for the summer.
May 17, 2014
Mrs. Hemingway: A Novel - Naomi Wood 4.5/5
A captivating story but painful and frustrating to read. Clearly Hemingway was a man dealing with numerous issues, loving him could not have been easy (apparent from his many relationships). Ladies were attracted to him and he seemed to bask in the attention wanted or unwanted. The part I found difficult to swallow was the fact these women surrendered their self respect and dignity in the name of love. I understand how love forces one to do 'crazy' things and often act in desperation but truly these women lost themselves in the name of love to a man unappreciative.
Wood creates an extremely intimate portrait when the dotted line is questionable between fact or fiction. This book is a riveting read and the scenarios are set up to where the reader feels part of the affection.
The concept of hearing the voices of the four women that loved this complex, confused and demanding man is discouraging and pleasing, saddening and inspiriting.
I approached this book as a mere observer otherwise I wanted to throttle these women and shake sense into them. Emotional driving force of the four women but equally baffling in a negative way. Hemingway was a self absorbed man, honest but set on having things on his terms, not easy for those captivated by this brilliant literary powerhouse.
Undeniable fans of the intrigue and mystique of the tempting Ernest Hemingway will enjoy this provocative and pragmatic novel.
A copy provided in exchange for an honest review
A captivating story but painful and frustrating to read. Clearly Hemingway was a man dealing with numerous issues, loving him could not have been easy (apparent from his many relationships). Ladies were attracted to him and he seemed to bask in the attention wanted or unwanted. The part I found difficult to swallow was the fact these women surrendered their self respect and dignity in the name of love. I understand how love forces one to do 'crazy' things and often act in desperation but truly these women lost themselves in the name of love to a man unappreciative.
Wood creates an extremely intimate portrait when the dotted line is questionable between fact or fiction. This book is a riveting read and the scenarios are set up to where the reader feels part of the affection.
The concept of hearing the voices of the four women that loved this complex, confused and demanding man is discouraging and pleasing, saddening and inspiriting.
I approached this book as a mere observer otherwise I wanted to throttle these women and shake sense into them. Emotional driving force of the four women but equally baffling in a negative way. Hemingway was a self absorbed man, honest but set on having things on his terms, not easy for those captivated by this brilliant literary powerhouse.
Hadley
"She curls an arm around his neck and lifts herself to kiss him. 'I love you,' she says forcefully. Yes, she would do anything to save this: even invite her husband's mistress on holiday with them."
Fife
"Something in her collapses; dignity perhaps. 'Please done leave me,' she says, though it breaks her heart to have to beg him like this. But she adores him. She has never loves a man more than this man. She never will again. 'Leave Martha. Stay with me.'"
Martha
"She wants her own happiness too much to squander it for him. Let Mary deal with it if that's what she wants. And the next woman after her."
Mary
"Then one night over a silly fight about something or the other Ernest hit her. Hard across the jaw. She held her cheek with stunned silence: how could he have done this, she wondered, after the marvelous few weeks here? She went into her room to think over what she was doing with a man as volatile as this."
Undeniable fans of the intrigue and mystique of the tempting Ernest Hemingway will enjoy this provocative and pragmatic novel.
Ernest
"Sometimes I look back and I can't work out how it's done. How it fell apart. You think who it was to blame, and how much to blame they were. We were all to blame. I understand that. But me more than others."
A copy provided in exchange for an honest review
June 10, 2014
Where to start when it comes to how much I enjoyed this book?
I have to admit, in 2014 most of what I have read has been a little lackluster. Mrs. Hemingway was the first novel that really captured my attention and had me staying up late to finish it off. While it will undoubtedly garner comparisons to Paula McLain's The Paris Wife, the two novels only overlap in the slightest. While McLain chose to focus on the narrative of Hemingway's first wife, Hadley, in Wood's book we spend time with all four Mrs. Hemingways.
The real strength of the novel is how Wood makes you feel for and about each wife. Each is given equal room to tell her story, and a unique clean voice. All of the women are equally sympathetic, and I couldn't say I favored one wife over the other. I thoroughly enjoyed how Wood links together each of their sections with a delicate hand - the interlocking of their stories never felt forced, and the recurring themes and imagery were subtle and well-written.
Though Papa Hemingway obviously plays a rather substantial part, I appreciated that Wood stayed focused on the four very deserving and achieving women who often get hidden in his shadow.
Overall, highly recommend.
I have to admit, in 2014 most of what I have read has been a little lackluster. Mrs. Hemingway was the first novel that really captured my attention and had me staying up late to finish it off. While it will undoubtedly garner comparisons to Paula McLain's The Paris Wife, the two novels only overlap in the slightest. While McLain chose to focus on the narrative of Hemingway's first wife, Hadley, in Wood's book we spend time with all four Mrs. Hemingways.
The real strength of the novel is how Wood makes you feel for and about each wife. Each is given equal room to tell her story, and a unique clean voice. All of the women are equally sympathetic, and I couldn't say I favored one wife over the other. I thoroughly enjoyed how Wood links together each of their sections with a delicate hand - the interlocking of their stories never felt forced, and the recurring themes and imagery were subtle and well-written.
Though Papa Hemingway obviously plays a rather substantial part, I appreciated that Wood stayed focused on the four very deserving and achieving women who often get hidden in his shadow.
Overall, highly recommend.
June 23, 2014
After reading "The Paris Wife" I don't know why I read this book. This just reinforced to me that I will never like Ernest Hemingway. He may have been a "literary genius" but he was a lousy husband and drunk by all accounts. That being said, I'd be hard pressed to want to read anything by him. I wanted to like this book for the historical value of it but I just couldn't. I noticed another author quoted on the cover describes the book as "So beautifully written..." well I beg to differ. I could never describe a book as "beautifully written" when the author resorts to using the "f word" to express emotion or action. This is so needless & crass. It's insulting to assume that the reader identifies with this language. And if its done with the idea of portraying a character's personality, well, it doesn't need to be spelled out so explicitly or in such a vulgar way. The author didn't do the memory of Fife Hemingway any favors in this area.
September 17, 2014
In my opinion, of course. The worst. Don't waste your time. Bad fiction, bad prose, infantile dialogue. How does this crap get published anyway?
December 20, 2018
I'll look for more books by this author. This one was excellently written. Ernest Hemingway had four wives. He accumulated them like stars in the sky, looking on the horizon to see the brightest among many. He plucked another woman before letting go of the previous one.
He was a cad, a charmer, a person who most likely thought he was sincere, yet he was far from that! Hadley Richardson was his Paris wife who was with him when he hung along the glamours Fitzgeralds, and the in crowd -- the "lost generation" of authors during that time period. Latching on to Hadley's friend, Pauline Pfeiffer, the three of them traveled and lived together for a period of time before poor Hadley had enough and gave Ernest the divorce he desired. She also gave him one of his three sons.
Fife Pauline), was glamours where Hadley wasn't. She was exceedingly rich and very charming. Neither Ernest or Fife could let go of their emotionally and sexually charged affair. Within days of the divorce from Hadley, he married wife number two. Pauline and Ernest had two sons, a rather large lifestyle in Cuba and the Keys of Florida, but even she could not quench his thirst for cheating and carousing.
Wife number three was Martha Gellhorn, an accomplished journalist who intentionally placed herself on the front line of wars. While Ernest found her incredibly intelligent, he tried to keep her at home, barefoot and pregnant if he could have had his way. He didn't get his way and Martha was the only wife who left him, stinging his ego and for a short period of time, smacking his self conceit.
Mary Welsh was yet another woman found before it ended with Martha. More sedate than the others, she loved him and saw him through his days of talk of suicide. Eventually, he did indeed end his life, leaving each current and previous wife wondering how the storm of his life impacted on them so tragically.
Written from the perspective of each wife, the chapters begin at the end of the relationships as the wives look back, and eventually becoming one of the group of four.
Highly Recommended.
He was a cad, a charmer, a person who most likely thought he was sincere, yet he was far from that! Hadley Richardson was his Paris wife who was with him when he hung along the glamours Fitzgeralds, and the in crowd -- the "lost generation" of authors during that time period. Latching on to Hadley's friend, Pauline Pfeiffer, the three of them traveled and lived together for a period of time before poor Hadley had enough and gave Ernest the divorce he desired. She also gave him one of his three sons.
Fife Pauline), was glamours where Hadley wasn't. She was exceedingly rich and very charming. Neither Ernest or Fife could let go of their emotionally and sexually charged affair. Within days of the divorce from Hadley, he married wife number two. Pauline and Ernest had two sons, a rather large lifestyle in Cuba and the Keys of Florida, but even she could not quench his thirst for cheating and carousing.
Wife number three was Martha Gellhorn, an accomplished journalist who intentionally placed herself on the front line of wars. While Ernest found her incredibly intelligent, he tried to keep her at home, barefoot and pregnant if he could have had his way. He didn't get his way and Martha was the only wife who left him, stinging his ego and for a short period of time, smacking his self conceit.
Mary Welsh was yet another woman found before it ended with Martha. More sedate than the others, she loved him and saw him through his days of talk of suicide. Eventually, he did indeed end his life, leaving each current and previous wife wondering how the storm of his life impacted on them so tragically.
Written from the perspective of each wife, the chapters begin at the end of the relationships as the wives look back, and eventually becoming one of the group of four.
Highly Recommended.
July 23, 2020
"Mrs. Hemingway" by Naomi Wood was a quick read I really enjoyed!
A novel based on the brilliant & legendary author Ernest Hemingway and the end of his marriages to each of his four wives. Each Mrs. Hemingway narrates her thoughts as she experienced the breakdown of her marriage to Mr. Hemingway. Such emotion - heartbreak, infidelity, passion and love - intertwined through the marriages of “Papa Hemingway� in this book.
It was an unexpectedly interesting read!
A novel based on the brilliant & legendary author Ernest Hemingway and the end of his marriages to each of his four wives. Each Mrs. Hemingway narrates her thoughts as she experienced the breakdown of her marriage to Mr. Hemingway. Such emotion - heartbreak, infidelity, passion and love - intertwined through the marriages of “Papa Hemingway� in this book.
It was an unexpectedly interesting read!
April 24, 2018
Really enjoyed this book. I didn’t know much about Ernest Hemingway’s life but loved his writings. It’s fascinating to learn about his wives. He inspired great passion and devotion from his women. I would like to read a good biography of Ernest Hemingway to get a more detailed and complete picture of him. But this is a good starter introduction to him via his wives.
March 5, 2018
I chose to purchase Naomi Wood's Mrs Hemingway to contribute to my Around the World in 80 Books challenge, which I am currently working through. Although the novel is set in several locations - the Sunday Express mentions in its review that it zips 'from jazz-age Paris to post-war Cuba via 1930s Florida' - I chose to include it for Cuba, where Ernest Hemingway lived for some years.
Whilst I tend to be quite sceptical about fictionalised books about real-life figures, particularly the famous and infamous, I was really looking forward to immersing myself within Mrs Hemingway. It has been very favourably reviewed, and was also the winner of the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize in 2014, as well as being shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize in the same year. Mrs Hemingway tells of four very different women, forced to be strong in their own ways; indeed, the blurb mentions that 'over the ensuing decades, as each marriage is ignited by passion and deceit, four extraordinary women will learn what it means to love - and lose - the most famous writer of his generation.' Mrs Hemingway is told entirely using the third person perspective, and follows each wife in turn - Hadley, Fife, Martha, and Mary - in separate sections. This structure, as well as the non-linear fragments within each, work well.
The novel begins in 1926, when Ernest and his wife Hadley are living in France, with their small son, Bumby. At this point, Ernest is already conducting an affair with Hadley's best friend, Fife. The novel immerses the reader immediately in the non-conformist relationship which the three have, and hints at the danger which it will bring: 'Everything is now done a trois. Breakfast, then swimming; lunch, then bridge; dinner, then drinks in the evenings. There are always three breakfast trays, three wet bathing suits, three sets of cards left folded on the table when the game, abruptly and without explanation, ends. Hadley and Ernest are accompanied wherever they go by a third. This woman slips between them as easily as a blade. This is Fife; this is her husband's lover.'
When each protagonist is introduced, the reader sees them as wholly developed; there are different intricacies to each character, and their real-life personalities have clearly been researched extensively. There is no sense of overdramatisation, or of exaggeration, as far as I could tell. Each characterisation is perceptive and thoughtful, and Wood is entirely sympathetic and understanding to the women's plight. Mrs Hemingway is an immersive and easy to read novel, but it still smacks of intelligence.
The scenes throughout Mrs Hemingway are set beautifully and effectively, and I found the novel engaging from the very beginning. Wood has made great use of the fascinating period and story which Ernest Hemingway's real life, and many affairs, gives. He comes across as the unscrupulous fellow that he was at times, but glimpses are given which demonstrate things which he did to make himself so popular with womankind. 'How easily he attracts women,' Wood writes. 'How they come in droves, unwelcome as moths.'
Whilst I tend to be quite sceptical about fictionalised books about real-life figures, particularly the famous and infamous, I was really looking forward to immersing myself within Mrs Hemingway. It has been very favourably reviewed, and was also the winner of the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize in 2014, as well as being shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize in the same year. Mrs Hemingway tells of four very different women, forced to be strong in their own ways; indeed, the blurb mentions that 'over the ensuing decades, as each marriage is ignited by passion and deceit, four extraordinary women will learn what it means to love - and lose - the most famous writer of his generation.' Mrs Hemingway is told entirely using the third person perspective, and follows each wife in turn - Hadley, Fife, Martha, and Mary - in separate sections. This structure, as well as the non-linear fragments within each, work well.
The novel begins in 1926, when Ernest and his wife Hadley are living in France, with their small son, Bumby. At this point, Ernest is already conducting an affair with Hadley's best friend, Fife. The novel immerses the reader immediately in the non-conformist relationship which the three have, and hints at the danger which it will bring: 'Everything is now done a trois. Breakfast, then swimming; lunch, then bridge; dinner, then drinks in the evenings. There are always three breakfast trays, three wet bathing suits, three sets of cards left folded on the table when the game, abruptly and without explanation, ends. Hadley and Ernest are accompanied wherever they go by a third. This woman slips between them as easily as a blade. This is Fife; this is her husband's lover.'
When each protagonist is introduced, the reader sees them as wholly developed; there are different intricacies to each character, and their real-life personalities have clearly been researched extensively. There is no sense of overdramatisation, or of exaggeration, as far as I could tell. Each characterisation is perceptive and thoughtful, and Wood is entirely sympathetic and understanding to the women's plight. Mrs Hemingway is an immersive and easy to read novel, but it still smacks of intelligence.
The scenes throughout Mrs Hemingway are set beautifully and effectively, and I found the novel engaging from the very beginning. Wood has made great use of the fascinating period and story which Ernest Hemingway's real life, and many affairs, gives. He comes across as the unscrupulous fellow that he was at times, but glimpses are given which demonstrate things which he did to make himself so popular with womankind. 'How easily he attracts women,' Wood writes. 'How they come in droves, unwelcome as moths.'
May 27, 2014
Having a long standing and intensely personal interest in all things Ernest Hemingway, I was eager to read this novel from the moment I heard of it. From start to finish, MRS. HEMINGWAY captivated my attention and shed new and fascinating light on a life story of a writer worthy of a novel.
Told from each wife’s point of view, MRS. HEMINGWAY is arranged chronologically by marriage, but through both action and remembrance in each section. When one wife’s story ends, the next begins, often staging scenes from the other point of view, allowing for a rich tapestry of testimony for the commencement and conclusion of each romance. No one is innocent on these pages, but all are human, sympathetic, and redeemable–even Papa.
If you cannot get enough of the story of Ernest Hemingway–and even if you can–you must read MRS HEMINGWAY. Book clubs in particular will have much to discuss from its cast of flawed characters falling in and out of love in rich settings of period and place. Heartbreaking and heart-stirring, MRS HEMINGWAY is a novel that Ernest Hemingway himself would no doubt admire.
Told from each wife’s point of view, MRS. HEMINGWAY is arranged chronologically by marriage, but through both action and remembrance in each section. When one wife’s story ends, the next begins, often staging scenes from the other point of view, allowing for a rich tapestry of testimony for the commencement and conclusion of each romance. No one is innocent on these pages, but all are human, sympathetic, and redeemable–even Papa.
If you cannot get enough of the story of Ernest Hemingway–and even if you can–you must read MRS HEMINGWAY. Book clubs in particular will have much to discuss from its cast of flawed characters falling in and out of love in rich settings of period and place. Heartbreaking and heart-stirring, MRS HEMINGWAY is a novel that Ernest Hemingway himself would no doubt admire.
August 8, 2014
Four wives and an addiction to marriage. Despite the difficulty he had remaining faithful, Hemingway didn't like being single, he liked his women to be contracted to him and then to have his liberty.
The book is structured in four equal parts, each dedicated to one wife and starts with the beginning of the end, before giving us the beginning of their relationship. It is a study of how he entered and exited these relationships and doesn't dwell at all on the middle or the mundane. That structure keeps up the pace and instills a sense of anticipation in the reader, wanting to know what happened in between times to change things.
Loved it! See my complete review .
Recommend to anyone who enjoyed The Paris Wife and Z:A Novel of Zelda, and of course A Moveable Feast.
The book is structured in four equal parts, each dedicated to one wife and starts with the beginning of the end, before giving us the beginning of their relationship. It is a study of how he entered and exited these relationships and doesn't dwell at all on the middle or the mundane. That structure keeps up the pace and instills a sense of anticipation in the reader, wanting to know what happened in between times to change things.
Loved it! See my complete review .
Recommend to anyone who enjoyed The Paris Wife and Z:A Novel of Zelda, and of course A Moveable Feast.
February 15, 2016
Loved it. Beautifully written and haunting. Now I have to read , and .
June 13, 2017
Review to come on
Fascinating book - I do love literary figures appearing in fiction. This is a great novel -I'm swithering between 4 & 5 stars...Highly recommended.
Fascinating book - I do love literary figures appearing in fiction. This is a great novel -I'm swithering between 4 & 5 stars...Highly recommended.
October 26, 2024
Setting: Paris & Antibes, France/Cuba/USA; 1926-1961.
This intriguing read is the story of each of Ernest Hemingway's four wives - Hadley Richardson (1921-1927), Pauline (Fife) Pfeiffer (1927-1940), Martha Gellhorn (1940-1945) and Mary Welsh (1946-1961) - told by the wives themselves. Each wife tells of her life with Hemingway, how they met and how they came to be divorced - and also what they thought of the women preceding and following them.
The book starts with Hadley's section as, in Antibes in 1926, Hadley, Ernest and Fife are uncomfortably holidaying together, even though (or perhaps because) Hadley is aware that Fife is a threat to her marriage.
Much has been made of Hemingway's philandering and I recently watched an interesting TV documentary charting his career and his women. But this book, told from the wives' point of view, gave me a very different and interesting perspective on the issue, right up to his death by suicide in 1961 (although Mary insists that it was an accident) at the relatively young age of 61.
The stories were well-written and each wife came to life for me through their narrative - their emotions and thoughts were clear to see and really made for an excellent read - 9/10.
This intriguing read is the story of each of Ernest Hemingway's four wives - Hadley Richardson (1921-1927), Pauline (Fife) Pfeiffer (1927-1940), Martha Gellhorn (1940-1945) and Mary Welsh (1946-1961) - told by the wives themselves. Each wife tells of her life with Hemingway, how they met and how they came to be divorced - and also what they thought of the women preceding and following them.
The book starts with Hadley's section as, in Antibes in 1926, Hadley, Ernest and Fife are uncomfortably holidaying together, even though (or perhaps because) Hadley is aware that Fife is a threat to her marriage.
Much has been made of Hemingway's philandering and I recently watched an interesting TV documentary charting his career and his women. But this book, told from the wives' point of view, gave me a very different and interesting perspective on the issue, right up to his death by suicide in 1961 (although Mary insists that it was an accident) at the relatively young age of 61.
The stories were well-written and each wife came to life for me through their narrative - their emotions and thoughts were clear to see and really made for an excellent read - 9/10.
September 8, 2015
‘An album follows, a book of wives. In each picture of each couple a ghost wife hovers behind him. Each decade has its triptych.�
There’s a lovely measure to Naomi Wood’s writing. I liked her style straightaway. She puts in just enough time and place that I was immediately in the room and pulled by the narrative. Hadley’s section has some great evocative description, but it’s applied with elegant economy. Wood puts the heaviness in the heat, the salt in the sea and I had a real sense of all the tripwires strung through that over-peopled, locked-down villa. As the period where Ernest is at his max-potential, full of energy and ambition and charisma, there’s lots in this first section to excite and charm � and alarm. I shan’t forget the rustle of those treacherous feather quills. There’s a real freshness to this writing, a real shimmer; it carries its (evidently substantial) research so lightly.
It’s difficult not to run your eye along the wifely line-up and pick out a favourite. It’s the bookends of Hadley and Mary that I most warmed to. Fife and Martha have more hard surfaces and sharp edges� although I did then look back at Fife and wondered if I’d misjudged her? Beneath the sleekness a vulnerability shows itself afterwards and I found myself wishing that I’d tried harder to like Fife. It’s a trick that’s repeated. As each mistress entered I narrowed my eyes at her, but then as the next one came along the conveyor belt I felt pity for the supplanted spouse. I enjoyed how this book played with my sympathy. But ‘conveyor belt�, is probably glib of me� Wood doesn’t do a hatchet job on Hem. It’s not that sort of book. Rather, I got the impression that she admires him as a writer and has a fondness for him as a man. He’s just not terribly competent at the husbanding part. “He is so good at being in love that Ernest Hemingway makes a rotten husband,� as Martha Gellhorn puts it. In places Wood succeeds in conveying the sparkle in Ernest’s famed charm (‘What a pull he has! What a magnetism! Women jump off balconies and follow him into wars�); in other places I wanted to shake him. Ultimately, with Mary, I found myself saying, ‘Oh, Ernest…�
Beautifully put together and impressively imagined, this book is both a hugely pleasurable read and great piece of conjuring. Wood makes the personalities step off the page, really breathes life and light into her subject, and leaves me wanting to learn more about each Mrs H. Luminous, moving and elegantly achieved.
‘Oh, Ernest, she thinks, you were a man of too many wives. It almost makes her laugh.�
There’s a lovely measure to Naomi Wood’s writing. I liked her style straightaway. She puts in just enough time and place that I was immediately in the room and pulled by the narrative. Hadley’s section has some great evocative description, but it’s applied with elegant economy. Wood puts the heaviness in the heat, the salt in the sea and I had a real sense of all the tripwires strung through that over-peopled, locked-down villa. As the period where Ernest is at his max-potential, full of energy and ambition and charisma, there’s lots in this first section to excite and charm � and alarm. I shan’t forget the rustle of those treacherous feather quills. There’s a real freshness to this writing, a real shimmer; it carries its (evidently substantial) research so lightly.
It’s difficult not to run your eye along the wifely line-up and pick out a favourite. It’s the bookends of Hadley and Mary that I most warmed to. Fife and Martha have more hard surfaces and sharp edges� although I did then look back at Fife and wondered if I’d misjudged her? Beneath the sleekness a vulnerability shows itself afterwards and I found myself wishing that I’d tried harder to like Fife. It’s a trick that’s repeated. As each mistress entered I narrowed my eyes at her, but then as the next one came along the conveyor belt I felt pity for the supplanted spouse. I enjoyed how this book played with my sympathy. But ‘conveyor belt�, is probably glib of me� Wood doesn’t do a hatchet job on Hem. It’s not that sort of book. Rather, I got the impression that she admires him as a writer and has a fondness for him as a man. He’s just not terribly competent at the husbanding part. “He is so good at being in love that Ernest Hemingway makes a rotten husband,� as Martha Gellhorn puts it. In places Wood succeeds in conveying the sparkle in Ernest’s famed charm (‘What a pull he has! What a magnetism! Women jump off balconies and follow him into wars�); in other places I wanted to shake him. Ultimately, with Mary, I found myself saying, ‘Oh, Ernest…�
Beautifully put together and impressively imagined, this book is both a hugely pleasurable read and great piece of conjuring. Wood makes the personalities step off the page, really breathes life and light into her subject, and leaves me wanting to learn more about each Mrs H. Luminous, moving and elegantly achieved.
‘Oh, Ernest, she thinks, you were a man of too many wives. It almost makes her laugh.�
February 4, 2017
Hemingway und seine vier Ehefrauen sind das Thema des Romans "Als Hemingway mich liebte" von Naomi Wood. Die Autorin hat sich bei der Recherche unter anderem auf den Inhalt von Briefen gestützt, dennoch ist es keine Biographie, sondern ein Roman.
Der Roman ist in vier Teile unterteilt, die jeweils eine der Ehen gewidmet sind. Es beginnt natürlich mit der Ehe zwischen Ernest und Hadley, wobei schon von Anfang des Romans an eine dritte Person mit involviert ist: Fife. Ernest und Hadley haben sich in Amerika kennen gelernt, leben aber zusammen in Paris. Ihr gemeinsamer Sohn erkrankt bei einem Urlaub und sie werden von ihren Freunden in Quarantäne geschickte - doch nicht nur die Kleinfamilie Hemingway geht in Quarantäne, sondern mit ihnen auch Hadleys beste Freundin und Ernests Affäre Fife.
Der zweite Teil widmet sich dann der Ehe zwischen Fife und Ernest Hemingway, wobei natürlich auch die Exfrau Hadley immer wieder eine Rolle spielt und sich an frühere Zeiten zurück erinnert wird. Die Ehe zwischen den beiden ist hauptsächlich geprägt von Hemingways Schreiben und es war für mich interessant zu sehen, welche Parallelen und Unterschiede es zwischen der ersten und der zweiten Ehe des Schriftstellers zu sehen waren.
Danach folgt die eher kurze Ehe mit Martha, einer jungen Reporterin, die für Ernest wohl offensichtlich zu ambitioniert war. Im Gegensatz zu seinen ersten beiden Frauen, legt die dritte Mrs. Hemingway einen beruflichen Eifer an den Tag und lässt sich auch nicht von ihrem Mann einschränken. Das hat mir gefallen.
Die letzte Ehefrau war Mary, die mit Ernest am längsten verheiratet war. Zu dem Zeitpunkt hatte er aber schon so sehr mit Depressionen zu kämpfen, dass Mary oft nur noch die negativen Seiten ihres Ehemanns zu spüren bekommen hat.
Das Buch ist unaufgeregt und ruhig verfasst und lässt sich daher gut lesen. Beim Lesen hatte ich immer wieder das Gefühl, als Betrachterin mit bei den verschiedenen beschriebenen Szenen dabei zu sein. Daher ist es auch kein Wunder, dass ich natürlich eine der Frauen mehr mochte als die anderen: Hadley, die erste. Dennoch mochte ich den Roman natürlich als Ganzes.
"Er wirkte erst betreten, dann wurde er wütend, weil sie dieses Thema angeschnitten hatte. Ihr war klar gewesen, dass er so reagieren, dass er versuchen würde, ihr die Schuld in die Schuhe zu schieben - als wäre sie die Architektin dieser Affäre, indem sie sie zur Sprache brachte."
- Seite 33f
Fazit und Empfehlung
Ein gut geschriebener, kurzweiliger Roman rund um Ernest Hemingway und die vier Frauen in der Rolle der Mrs. Hemingway.
Der Roman ist in vier Teile unterteilt, die jeweils eine der Ehen gewidmet sind. Es beginnt natürlich mit der Ehe zwischen Ernest und Hadley, wobei schon von Anfang des Romans an eine dritte Person mit involviert ist: Fife. Ernest und Hadley haben sich in Amerika kennen gelernt, leben aber zusammen in Paris. Ihr gemeinsamer Sohn erkrankt bei einem Urlaub und sie werden von ihren Freunden in Quarantäne geschickte - doch nicht nur die Kleinfamilie Hemingway geht in Quarantäne, sondern mit ihnen auch Hadleys beste Freundin und Ernests Affäre Fife.
Der zweite Teil widmet sich dann der Ehe zwischen Fife und Ernest Hemingway, wobei natürlich auch die Exfrau Hadley immer wieder eine Rolle spielt und sich an frühere Zeiten zurück erinnert wird. Die Ehe zwischen den beiden ist hauptsächlich geprägt von Hemingways Schreiben und es war für mich interessant zu sehen, welche Parallelen und Unterschiede es zwischen der ersten und der zweiten Ehe des Schriftstellers zu sehen waren.
Danach folgt die eher kurze Ehe mit Martha, einer jungen Reporterin, die für Ernest wohl offensichtlich zu ambitioniert war. Im Gegensatz zu seinen ersten beiden Frauen, legt die dritte Mrs. Hemingway einen beruflichen Eifer an den Tag und lässt sich auch nicht von ihrem Mann einschränken. Das hat mir gefallen.
Die letzte Ehefrau war Mary, die mit Ernest am längsten verheiratet war. Zu dem Zeitpunkt hatte er aber schon so sehr mit Depressionen zu kämpfen, dass Mary oft nur noch die negativen Seiten ihres Ehemanns zu spüren bekommen hat.
Das Buch ist unaufgeregt und ruhig verfasst und lässt sich daher gut lesen. Beim Lesen hatte ich immer wieder das Gefühl, als Betrachterin mit bei den verschiedenen beschriebenen Szenen dabei zu sein. Daher ist es auch kein Wunder, dass ich natürlich eine der Frauen mehr mochte als die anderen: Hadley, die erste. Dennoch mochte ich den Roman natürlich als Ganzes.
"Er wirkte erst betreten, dann wurde er wütend, weil sie dieses Thema angeschnitten hatte. Ihr war klar gewesen, dass er so reagieren, dass er versuchen würde, ihr die Schuld in die Schuhe zu schieben - als wäre sie die Architektin dieser Affäre, indem sie sie zur Sprache brachte."
- Seite 33f
Fazit und Empfehlung
Ein gut geschriebener, kurzweiliger Roman rund um Ernest Hemingway und die vier Frauen in der Rolle der Mrs. Hemingway.
January 28, 2015
I wanted to enjoy this book as I liked the idea of it being the different female narrative voices that were explored, but I finished the book not really knowing any more about the wives or Hemingway than when I started. I usually can access History though fiction, but this time I felt it just didn't really say anything, other than the obvious that he was a bit of a womaniser and a bit of a troubled soul. I guess, it would now be kind of interesting to read some proper biographical material and compare the two, but I probably won't. At best, I might revisit a Hemingway novel.
Having said that it was a quick and easy read, so not an unpleasant way to spend time, just a bit pointless and unsatisfactory. Of the wives, the first and second were portrayed with a little more umph than the third and fourth, though stereotpyes were used. Hadley was the saintly one, whereas Fife was the obsessive drama queen. Nope, sorry, try as I might I didn't really like this book.
Having said that it was a quick and easy read, so not an unpleasant way to spend time, just a bit pointless and unsatisfactory. Of the wives, the first and second were portrayed with a little more umph than the third and fourth, though stereotpyes were used. Hadley was the saintly one, whereas Fife was the obsessive drama queen. Nope, sorry, try as I might I didn't really like this book.
December 23, 2015
In a review, Booklist compared my second novel to Mrs. Hemingway so of course I had to immediately pick it up. I love all things Hemingway so knew this would be right up my alley. There have been no shortage of Hemingway wife fiction so I worried this wouldn't have anything new to add…and I was dead wrong. This is basically 4 interrelated novellas, each told through one of Hemingway’s wives. The author does a brilliant job of painting the thrills and heartbreak of being married to this complex man. Each wife is brought to life uniquely, and they all very much feel like different people. Their relationship(s) with him and with each other are well-drawn and palpable. From the dizzying beginning to the heartbreaking end, this was a very emotional read. Love, love, loved this one.
January 26, 2015
Enjoyed the language in this one. It may be time to re-read Nancy Milford's biography of Zelda...
March 15, 2020
Pasakojama apie zymiojo rasytojo Hemingvejaus gyvenima ir jo moteris. Knyga nera kazkuo labai issiskirianti ar patraukianti demesi. Tiems kas patinka sis rasytojas verta perskaityti ir bent kazkiek susipazinti su rasytojo gyvenimu, ne vien tik is parasytu jo knygu.
April 5, 2022
Man, kaip Hemingvėjaus kūrybos ir jo gyvenimo tyrinėtojui (šiame portale, mano profilyje yra blog'as apie šį rašytoją) ir ši N. Wood knyga buvo naudinga. Manau, naudinga ir visiems Hemo fanams.
March 29, 2016
Oh Ernest. The man, the legend. Henry the VIII of the literary world when it came to marriage, although less prolific and less homicidal. Here his life is told through his four wives, each gets her own quarter of the book, irrespective of the marriage's actual duration or import. Well, really they were all important in their own way just as all of the women were unique in their own way. The only constant thing was Ernest himself, terribly romantic, utterly charismatic, reliably philandering in a cowardly way that always created a devastating triangle, seemingly unable to be alone, obviously a man who strives on adulation and had an easy time inspiring it, good looking (to start with), gregarious, talented, moody, perpetually inebriated, consistently inconsistent, larger than life sort of character. To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of his, but I do enjoy historical fiction and this was highly recommended to me by my significant other, who loved the book. I read it mainly to see if that love was deserved or find out what inspired it, not to mention the awards and accolades this received from the world at large. I found it to be good, immensely and easily readable, though it didn't really engage me, because, unlike the 4 Mrs., I just didn't find myself as enamored by the object of their obsessive loves. It also veered dangerously close to chicklit at times, but mainly in the first half. I enjoyed reading it, didn't love it, but it entertained and did a notably good job of bringing to life a man through the eyes of the women who loved him. From a biographical and historical perspectives this was quite good. And quite a quick read.
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