The Paris Wife is a beautifully written fictional take on Ernest Hemingway’s first marriage. But, it’s written from Hadley’s point of view, as if she were writing it all down herself. It’s an interesting angle to take for this narrative - I liked it. And it’s so well written, I could easily imagine that it really had been written by her. Her emotions are on display, through their first meeting to when Ernest’s affair comes to light. You can feel the betrayal come right off the page. She deserved so much better. Side note - Einstein did the exact same thing to his first wife. Why are these brilliant men so dense when it comes to their personal relationships?! But I digress…

McLain appears to have a great talent for world building. I felt like I was there in Paris and Pamplona, along side the Hemingways through their journey. It made me wish I could go and see it myself. There’s a richness to the descriptions of those places, which makes any commentary on North America (and their time there) seem dull and grey by comparison.

The only thing that fell short was the pacing - this is a book you can’t rush through (even if you wanted to). But other than that - perfection.