
Author: Paula McLain
Strong women; Martha Gellhorn, Hemingway's 3rd wife
This is Paula McLain's second book that follows a wife of Ernest Hemingway, the first was The Paris Wife and followed the life of his second wife, Hadley. Love and Ruin follows Martha Gellhorn and her time with Hemingway.
McLain is a strong writer, the people are real and you experience what is happening to them. Gellhorn was impressive on her own, without her connection with the famous Hemingway. She was very independent and a celebrated war correspondent at a time when women were expected to report on recipes and child rearing.
The strongest parts of the novel follow Gellhorn's career and experiences in different wars. Where the book lags is when she's waiting for Hemingway, for his moods, his boyish pursuits, his ego to recover. At first I was bothered by the attention to Hemingway, but in the end you realize so was Gellhorn.
Strong women; Martha Gellhorn, Hemingway's 3rd wife
This is Paula McLain's second book that follows a wife of Ernest Hemingway, the first was The Paris Wife and followed the life of his second wife, Hadley. Love and Ruin follows Martha Gellhorn and her time with Hemingway.
McLain is a strong writer, the people are real and you experience what is happening to them. Gellhorn was impressive on her own, without her connection with the famous Hemingway. She was very independent and a celebrated war correspondent at a time when women were expected to report on recipes and child rearing.
The strongest parts of the novel follow Gellhorn's career and experiences in different wars. Where the book lags is when she's waiting for Hemingway, for his moods, his boyish pursuits, his ego to recover. At first I was bothered by the attention to Hemingway, but in the end you realize so was Gellhorn.