The Paris WifeThe Paris Wife by Paula McLain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ll admit it. I’ve never read anything by Hemingway, though I’ve quoted him (“The first draft of anything is sh*t”), knew he was much revered as an author, that he committed suicide, and that he had a bunch of cats.
The Paris Wife is before all of that, and the voice of Hadley, his first wife, rings true and clear as the narrator of this utterly compelling novel that tackles Hemingway’s early years. I could feel his bigger-than-life presence, his penchant for drinking too much, for taking in every high and low as if every moment mattered—and needed to be captured, even if it meant hurting the ones he loved, or the ones who loved (and helped) him along the way.
We leave this novel, as a reader, understanding “Tatie,” aka “Papa.” Maybe not liking him, entirely, but accepting who he was in a time of decadence and debaucherie, and along the way we get to meet F. Scott Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda, and many other notables of the time. It’s a lifestyle that I can’t begin to imagine and yet McLain makes it accessible through passionate prose and artful description. Her research and attention to detail is to be applauded.
Better still, I wanted to keep reading well beyond the end. 5 Solid Stars.

GOODREADS RATING SYSTEM:

5: It was amazing

4: really liked it

3: liked it

2: It was okay

1: didn’t like it

View all my reviews