Do you ever start reading a book for no particular reason at all? You're really only mildly interested in the time period and the historical figures portrayed in the book, you're not looking to get super involved in a long story, yet something still draws you to this book. I seem to be having this experience a lot lately.
The Paris Wife is probably one of the best books I've read in a while. Not because it has shown me something about myself or inspired me to be something more. It was good because it completely sucked me in-to the point where I found myself feeling anxious about the characters in my everyday life. The Paris Wife talks about Ernest Hemmingway's first marriage to Hadley Richardson, how they met in Chicago, and their life together in Paris (having tea with Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas and drinks with Ezra Pound). The characters really evolve as the story unfolds, and you get a glimpse (though mostly fictionalized) into the mind of the man and woman themselves.
As a result, I've picked up a few more of Hemmingway's books. I think if I had ready access to his papers and letters, I could start an obsession that would only be rivaled by my love and devotion to John Steinbeck and my morbid fascination with all things Henry VIII.
And don't worry all you non-Gertie Stein fans. There are no spontaneous "a woman a cow a love story" passages here. She's more of a minor character.
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