She has recently lost her sister Dorothea to a gruesome accident and her mother to a lingering illness. Hadley does not talk about her own past in her letters, instead, revealing her history in a series of flashbacks. Ernest is open about his family situation, telling Hadley that he is close to his father but dislikes his domineering mother. After another chance meeting, Hadley and Ernest begin writing each other frequent letters. Kate refuses to introduce them, implying that she has a past with Ernest, though she will not tell Hadley the details. Hadley is instantly captivated by Ernest, who is seven years younger than she. In the novel, Ernest and Hadley meet in 1920 at a party thrown by Hadley’s best friend, Kate. 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.Ī heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.The Paris Wife (2012), a historical novel by Paula McLain, recounts a fictionalized version of the real-life courtship between author Ernest Hemingway and his wife, Hadley Richardson. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.

The book the paris wife