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Book Review of The Paris Wife (Audio CD) (Unabridged)

The Paris Wife (Audio CD) (Unabridged)
Doughgirl avatar reviewed on + 138 more book reviews


In 1921, 29 year-old Hadley Richardson married 22 year-old Ernest Hemingway. She followed him to Paris, where Hemingway began his writing career, and they joined the fast-living group of literary ex-patriots including Ezra Pound, F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein.

Primarily, I listened to the audio of this book, and frankly it took me several tries to get started on it. Usually I was in my car and was easily lured away to Sirius satellite radio instead. I think the main reason for this was the narrator though, as I found her voice a little whiny (others in my book club agreed about that).

As for the story itself, it never hooked me but I did enjoy it. About ten years ago I went to Key West on vacation and visited Hemingways house there. Although Ive never really liked his books, the man himself fascinates me. He was bigger than life. So as much as this book focused on Hadley, I was also looking for insight into what made Hemingway tick. And if this fictionalized tale is to be believed, I found plenty of that! This book humanized Hemingway for me.

This was a really great book for a book club it generated lots of discussion. Some members of my book club didnt like the book because they didnt like the character of Hadley and found her too wimpy. Others, including me, disagreed.