This is an Advanced Reader's Copy.

Love and Ruin
by Paula McLain

The bestselling author of The Paris Wife returns to the subject of Ernest Hemingway in a novel about his passionate, stormy marriage to Martha Gellhorn—a fiercely independent, ambitious young woman who would become one of the greatest war correspondents of the twentieth century

In 1937, twenty-eight-year-old Martha 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 devastating conflict. She also finds herself unexpectedly—and uncontrollably—falling in love with Hemingway, a man already on his way to becoming a legend. In the shadow of the impending Second World War, and set against the tumultuous backdrops of Madrid, Finland, China, Key West, and especially Cuba, where Martha and Ernest make their home, their relationship and 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 will force her to break his heart, and her own.

In this novel, McLain tells the story of Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn. Gellhorn was Hemingway's third wife who she met in the late 30s and was married to from 1940 to 1945. But Gellhorn was unlike any of Hemingway's previous wives. She was independent and a writer in her own right and also turned out to be a highly respected journalist and war correspondent. She was with Hemingway during the Spanish Civil War and while he was writing his masterpiece, For Whom the Bell Tolls. Gellhorn was also writing during that time period but her novels and stories could not compete with Hemingway. She went on to cover wars in different parts of the world including Finland, China, Czechoslovakia, France, and Germany. She was the only woman present during the Normandy invasion on D-Day and she also witnesses the liberation of the concentration camp at Dachau.

She and Hemingway lived together at their estate in Cuba and she had a good relationship with Hemingway's three sons from his previous marriages. But when she went off to cover the Italian front during the war, Hemingway felt deserted and their marriage was doomed.

I have read McLain's The Paris Wife about Hemingway's marriage to his first wife, Hadley Richardson, as well as her novel Circling the Sun about Beryl Markham. I enjoyed both of these novels but of the three, Love and Ruin to me was the most engaging. I think it may have been because Gellhorn really had more of a story and life to tell in her own right and was a match for even Hemingway. I also remember seeing and enjoying the movie Hemingway and Gellhorn which starred Nichole Kidman. After reading this, I also want to read more of Hemingway, especially For Whom the Bell Tolls which I have neglected to read, and I would like to read some of Gellhorn's writing as well.

Wishlist tag going to kaila-ann in SC. Enjoy!

This arrived safe and sound today - thanks for sharing it!!