Mrs Hemingway is a beautiful representation of the relationship Hemingway had with his wives as well as the relationship they had with each other and how this shaped his career. It is eloquent and elegant but at the same time harrowing to read.
It is a story about how far you are willing to go to hold on to your husband and how long you are prepared to fight to be Mrs Hemingway.
Each wife in turn has a voice in the novel, Hadley, Fifi, Martha then Mary and each recounts how she captures Hemingway's attention and then watches as the next one makes her mark. Each story is entirely different from the others, they all went about their marriage in different ways, in different parts of the world and I willed each wife not to make the same mistake as the last. Although the marriages ended in the same way, it didn't feel predictable, it still felt fresh and it made the sense of foreboding unbearable - no matter how different they were to eachother, each wife faced the same fate - it was sad, it was angering, but what can be done? Hemingway's attention span for his women pretty much lasted as long as his novels before he was on to the next one.
I was gripped from page one with this book. I really felt that I traveled with the ups and downs of this book.
I loved that it was based around real love letters and telegrams and Naomi wrote it with such confidence that you have to remind yourself that this is still only fiction.
It will stick in your head for a long time after reading and the descriptive scenes of Paris or on the beach in Cuba will make you wish you were there without a doubt!
