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Title details for The Paris Wife by Paula McLain - Available

The Paris Wife

A Novel

by Paula McLain
Carrington MacDuffie
Audiobook
3 of 4 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
3 of 4 copies available
A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.
Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.
Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking and fast-living life of Jazz Age Paris, which hardly values traditional notions of family and monogamy. Surrounded by beautiful women and competing egos, Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history, pouring all the richness and intensity of his life with Hadley and their circle of friends into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises. Hadley, meanwhile, strives to hold on to her sense of self as the demands of life with Ernest grow costly and her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Despite their extraordinary bond, they eventually find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.
A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 22, 2011

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780307877215
      • File size: 329448 KB
      • Duration: 11:26:20

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      I wished I had died before I ever loved anyone but her, Ernest Hemingway wrote of his first wife, Hadley Richardson. This remarkable audiobook imaginatively recreates Hemingway's world as seen through Hadley's eyes. Narrator Carrington MacDuffie portrays this ardent yet grounded woman well, capturing her departure from ordinary life as she falls headlong in love with "Nesto." Hemingway pronounces Hadley "a good clear sort" of person, and MacDuffie beautifully expresses her levelheaded nature as lover, mother, and eventually, estranged wife. MacDuffie's ability to subtly characterize conversations between Hemingway and Hadley through slight shifts in tone and pacing is admirable. She's equally artful at depicting the many others populating the author's world--from son Bumby to Southern mistress Pauline. This terrific production will absorb all listeners, not just Hemingway fans. J.C.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 2, 2011
      McLain's novel covers the marriage of Hadley Richardson and Ernest Hemingway, from their romantic, early years in Parisâwhere they slow danced to the sounds of the accordion drifting up from the apartment below, lunched with Gertrude Stein, and had cocktails with the Fitzgeraldsâto their marriage growing more complicated as Ernest's literary career takes off. Carrington Macduffie's voice for Ernest is harsh and guttural, which makes him sound less charismatic and makes it difficult for the listener to understand why Hadley puts up with him as long as she does. Macduffie's voice for Hadley is stilted and timid at firstâHadley is perpetually fumbling for the right word, but she gradually sounds increasingly self-assured. Macduffie's ability to communicate Hadley's transformation vocally makes for moving listening. A Ballantine hardcover.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      December 6, 2010
      McLain (A Ticket to Ride) offers a vivid addition to the complex-woman-behind-the-legendary-man genre, bringing
      Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley Richardson, to life. Meeting through mutual friends in Chicago, Hadley is intrigued by the brash "beautiful boy," and after a brief courtship and small wedding, Hadley and Ernest take off for Paris, "the place to be," according to Sherwood Anderson. McLain ably portrays the cultural icons of the 1920s—Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, and Ezra and Dorothy Pound—and the impact they have on the then unknown Hemingway, casting Hadley as a rock of Gibraltar for a troubled man whose brilliance and talent were charged and compromised by his astounding capacity for alcohol and women. Hadley, meanwhile, makes a convincing transformation from an overprotected child to a game and brave young woman who puts up with impoverished living conditions and shattering loneliness to prop up her husband's career. The historical figure cameos sometimes come across as gimmicky, but the heart of the story—Ernest and Hadley's relationship—gets an honest reckoning, most notably the waves of elation and despair that pull them apart.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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