This one is an oldie, published 2012, that I
found at the library’s used book sale. I’m actually not a huge Hemingway
fan but found his life and suicide intriguing enough to be curious
about his pre-fame days. This focused on Hadley, the first wife, and is
fictional, but found it intriguing just the same.
The author has
done extensive research that is shared through the eyes of Hadley. We
see the young, as yet unproven Hemingway as she might have. Ambitious
and driven, living life to the fullest while still uncertain and
struggling with personal demons. I’m sure at some point I must have
known his father committed suicide but had forgotten. Other now famous
literary figures such as Gertrude Stein drift in and out of the story
and we see both Hemingway’s admiration and jealousy.
In the
process, we see how young Hadley struggles to cope with the larger than
life personality of her husband, seemingly losing herself in the
process. It’s rather melancholy, actually, for those who know the end of
the story, not to mention Hemingway’s ultimate end. Yet, the prose
flows and I found myself being pulled back into the book repeatedly,
even after thinking I’d set it aside for good. Definitely worth a read
and will, gasp, make you think.
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