It's a good thing Hemingway had several wives because Paula McClain tells their stories so adeptly. Her last book, The Paris Wife focused on his first marriage which became a long time New York Times bestseller. This new release sounds like another spellbinding saga focusing on Martha Gellhorn ...another wife. Each book tells a singular story with Hemingway as the leading man...and deservedly so!
Thankyou Bookreporter.com for the detailed review below.
LOVE AND RUIN by Paula McLain (Historical Fiction)
In 1937, 28-year-old Martha Gellhorn travels alone to Madrid to report on the atrocities of the Spanish Civil War and becomes drawn to the stories of ordinary people caught in the devastating conflict. It’s the adventure she’s been looking for and her chance to prove herself a worthy journalist in a field dominated by men. But she also finds herself unexpectedly --- and uncontrollably --- falling in love with Hemingway, a man on his way to becoming a legend.
In the shadow of the impending Second World War, and set against the turbulent backdrops of Madrid and Cuba, Martha and Ernest’s relationship and their professional careers ignite. But when Ernest publishes the biggest literary success of his career, FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS, they are no longer equals, and Martha must make a choice: surrender to the confining demands of being a famous man’s wife, or risk losing Ernest by forging a path as her own woman and writer. It is a dilemma that could force her to break his heart, and hers.
