By Chris O'Brien, Leader of Questers Book Club
The Questers Book Club met Wednesday, Oct. 11 to discuss The Paris Wife by Paula McClain. The Questers rated this book a 3.1, with much lively discussion, including some
honest criticism. However, those of us who have never read any of
Hemingway’s works left the discussion with serious intention of doing
so.
The
author writes on her website that when she began to research her book,
beginning with biographies of Hemingway and Hadley, and with their delicious
correspondence, she knew the actual story of the Hemingway’s marriage was near
perfect. It was a ready-made novel, ripe for the picking. She
did not have to invent a plot for them, nor did she want to. She used the framework of historical documentation to push into the characters’
hearts and minds, discovering their motivations, their deepest wishes.
The
most important step for the author was getting Hadley’s voice. She
has very little dialogue in A Moveable Feast, but what there is, is so
evocative. It led the author to seek out the letters Hadley wrote to
Ernest during their courtship, and that’s when she knew she could write the
book. Her speech rhythms, her intelligence and charm and sense of humor
all come through with clarity and effervescence. She says she fell in
love with them both.
Then
things began to unravel. Hadley lost a briefcase that contained four
years of Hemingway’s work. McLain says that Hemingway never really
forgave her for that. It was symbolic of how different they were.
Hemingway
was single-minded about his writing. Hadley was the homemaker and mother,
taking care of the child they nicknamed “Bumby.” Finally, Hemingway began
having an affair with one of Hadley’s friends, a glamorous young journalist
named Pauline Pfeiffer.
During
the time Pauline was pursuing Ernest, she never lost this pretense that she was
also Hadley’s best friend --- she was sending letters to them both. The letters to Ernest were letters to a lover. And the letters to Hadley
were sort of eerily asking for approval.
The
marriage finally fell apart after one disastrous summer, when the three members
of the love triangle vacationed together on the Riviera. They spent the
trip in the company of the rich and sophisticated Sara and Gerald Murphy, who
loved to entertain talented artists and writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald and
Hemingway. Many years later, Hadley, who by then had been happily
remarried for many years, told an interviewer how glad she was when the
marriage finally ended.
“Ernest
was a terrific responsibility. And when he was not happy, when he was
leading a double life and everything, it was just awfully hard. I
just didn’t care for it.”
But
Hadley also told the interviewer that she still cared for Hemingway and thought
he was a great man. For his part, Hemingway seemed to regret what
had happened to their marriage in Paris.
Hemingway
was married four times, and Pfeiffer became his second wife. Yet he
seemed to have a great affection for Hadley Richardson until the end of his
life. Neither of them ever seemed to forget what it was like to be young
and in love in beautiful Paris.
