The Paris Wife
By Paula McLain
Virago, $34.99Reviewed by Nicky Pellegrino
I can imagine that were I a Hemingway nerd I may find bones to pick with this book but since, prior to reading The Paris Wife, my knowledge of the great 20th century literary figure was pretty much limited to his partiality for bullfighting and drinking heavily, I loved it almost unreservedly.
A fictionalised account of Ernest Hemingway’s early years of struggle as an unpublished writer, it is told mostly through the eyes of his first wife Hadley Richardson and so becomes very much her story too. A solid, dependable American girl, she is dazzled by Hemingway, marries him and sets sail for a new life in jazz age Paris where she moves rather awkwardly through a bohemian circle of literary expats like Ezra Pound, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein.
The couple have the most ridiculous pet names for each other - Tatie, Tiny, Hem, Feather Cat – and spend a lot of time reminding each other how happy they are when the truth is that, traumatised by his wartime experiences and tortured by his efforts to write “one true sentence every day”, Hemingway is hardly an easy man to be married to. Hadley too has her issues – she is lonely in Paris, emotionally dependent on her husband, aware she doesn’t really fit in with his crowd. And she longs for the conventional – a settled household, a family – all things he fears will hold him back creatively.
This was a time when women were expected to put their own ambitions and talents aside and support their husbands. Hemingway has monstrous ego and everything she does must feed his talent. So when Hadley loses his entire oeuvre on a train and shortly afterwards falls pregnant things the rot sets in.
Hemingway was married four times and we know from the off that Hadley was only ever his starter wife. But when the end begins his betrayal is still shocking.
This isn’t a flawless novel. McLain’s bid to balance the story by taking us inside Hemingway’s mind occasionally interrupts the flow of Hadley’s voice and that jarred for me.
Still I can see why she felt she needed to do it. Without showing us so intimately his pain and its causes(things that Hadley may well not have been fully aware of) the great man would have comes over as a total rat.
All in all McLain has done a sterling job of turning history into fiction and bringing alive a fascinating era and a love story that deserve re-examination. The Paris Wife left me wanting to read more of Hemingway – and his books.
Footnote:
http://www.nickypellegrino.com/
Book Watch
Book blogger Graham Beattie reveals his top pick of his past month’s reading.
I cannot imagine a life that is not filled with books as mine has been all of my adult life. And the genre in which I have more books than any other is probably cookbooks. I love reading them, I love looking through them, I love cooking from them. I think it started back in the 1970’s when I first came across the great English food writer Elizabeth David. My interest has flourished since and today I own more than 500 cookbooks. I find them irresistible.
Fast forward to the present day and I confess I am totally addicted to MasterChef New Zealand. Wonderful, entertaining and absorbing television that finds me riveted to the screen evet Sunday night at 8.30pm.
This inevitably leads to more books. I am presently reading, enjoying, and cooking from the just-published Taste Of A Traveller (Random House, $55) by New Zealand’s First MasterChef Brett McGregor. So far I have made Brett’s Marrakech Chicken, Chicken with Garlic & Paprika, and Chick Pea and Pancetta Stew and all have gone down a treat. The book is treasure trove of simple, delicious recipes that anyone can make.
Coming on 16 May is Masterchef New Zealand, The Cookbook: Volume 2 (Random House, $55). I’ve been privileged to see some preview spreads from this title and can’t wait to get my hands on the finished book next month. Each section includes recipes and tips from the masterclasses and winning recipes from the best contestants. All complimented by superb food photography by Aaron Mclean along with incidental stills photography from the making of the show.
Graham Beattie is a former publisher who blogs daily about books at beattiesbookblog.blogspot.com
Booklover
Actor Leighton Cardno plays Leo in TV2 drama Go Girls
The book I love most is…Jack Kerouac’s On The Road. I read it for the first time just after leaving New Zealand for the first time, having nothing with me except a sleeping bag, a gas cooker and my backpack. As I read I found the book closely akin to my own living circumstances, and as I delved further into the story the more I felt comfortable about not knowing where I was going or what I was going to do next. It was all there in front of me waiting to be discovered and this book made me feel OK about pursuing the great unknown and embracing the now.
The book I'm reading right now is…J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye…I still can’t see why someone would want to kill John Lennon
The book I'd like to read next is…Christopher Hitchens’ God Is Not Great. Good to hear the evidence from both sides
The book that changed me is…Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation. Suddenly I became consciously aware of the ghastly process that made up the staple diet of my 20s. I was shocked. Only to find at 3am on a Saturday night while standing in line for three cheeseburgers, two fries and a thick-shake, that I had no memory of ever reading the book.
The book I hope I'd never read is…Book of Evolution by Sarah Palin …”And on the seventh day God created a Moose and then I shot it”….
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