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krobart's review against another edition
3.0
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2016/12/05/literary-wives-day-1005-mrs-hemingway/
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2016/12/05/literary-wives-day-1005-mrs-hemingway/
witchqueen76's review against another edition
4.0
I don't generally read biography type books, and even though this says it is a work of imagination it reads like a biography and I wonder how much is true. This account of Hemingway's life is told through his wives' eyes - and it is a fascinating, enveloping read, that switches back and forth in time and location. I love travel so reading about Paris, Key West, and Cuba was a huge pull!
Hemingway is pretty hateful in a typical womanising way and it was only towards the end that I saw him as a flawed man with issue, but it was really the wives that kept me reading, as I was totally drawn into the stories of their lives, loves and losses. It really is quite a beautiful book, I just wish I knew how much of it was true.
Hemingway is pretty hateful in a typical womanising way and it was only towards the end that I saw him as a flawed man with issue, but it was really the wives that kept me reading, as I was totally drawn into the stories of their lives, loves and losses. It really is quite a beautiful book, I just wish I knew how much of it was true.
jacki_f's review against another edition
4.0
Gosh, I enjoyed this. It's the story of the four women who were married to Ernest Hemingway and it focuses on the perspective of each in turn, so that sometimes you revisit past wives from the perspective of the new one. Ernest himself is a supporting player, something of an enigma viewed through the lens of four women who all became disenchanted with him in different ways. The book starts in 1926 and concludes in 1961, spanning a number of exotic destinations: Cuba, Key West, Paris, the south of France, all of which are brought to life in all their fragrant and dazzling splendour.
Occasionally I found myself tiring of reading about yet another miserable woman whose marriage is falling apart, but Naomi Wood's writing is so good that I would find myself burrowing into her words again and relishing her inventive turns of phrase. In the afterword she points us to a variety of online sources to view photographs of the wives, photographs of the homes they shared and even in one instance to hear their voices.
Occasionally I found myself tiring of reading about yet another miserable woman whose marriage is falling apart, but Naomi Wood's writing is so good that I would find myself burrowing into her words again and relishing her inventive turns of phrase. In the afterword she points us to a variety of online sources to view photographs of the wives, photographs of the homes they shared and even in one instance to hear their voices.
babyspic6's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
johndiconsiglio's review against another edition
4.0
An utterly unnecessary, ridiculously romantic & absolutely irresistible soap opera take on Hemingway and his four wives. Each section is narrated by a different Mrs. Hs, but the titanic author is the real centerpiece. And it's a portrait Papa would have adored: passionate, ravenous, tortured, equal parts lout & lover, despised & desired. There’s Paris cocktails, Key West sword fishing, bombs bursting over Madrid—all punctuated with steamy trysts & Lost Gen soirées. Trash, sure. But delicious trash.
ja3m3's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting fictional account of Hemingway's four marriages and the women who loved him and tried to save him from his demons.
bookswritingandmore's review against another edition
3.0
After reading The Paris Wife, I guess I had some high hopes for this novel since it is about the lives of all of Ernest Hemingway's wives.
This book had its moment but I kept having to force myself to finish it.
It was just a let down for me. Being a historical fiction lover, I expected more than what this novel offered.
This book had its moment but I kept having to force myself to finish it.
It was just a let down for me. Being a historical fiction lover, I expected more than what this novel offered.
carolineroche's review against another edition
5.0
I absolutely loved this book! The title is wonderfully ambiguous, as it tells the story of all four of Hemingway's wives, in four sections, yet the title encompasses all four Mrs Hemingways. I had no idea until I read the book about his personal life, and now I know more than I wanted to! Naomi Wood's prose is worthy of the master himself, you can feel the heat shimmering off the page in the scenes with the first Mrs Hemingway in Antibes. And the scenes where the next Mrs Hemingway is lined up is beautifully enacted, from both points of view, at the beginning and end of the chapters, giving different slants on the story. This is a great book to read and enjoy.
mw724's review against another edition
4.0
I was not expecting very much at all out of this book, but the writing straddles the line between literary and popular in a way that is quite readable, without sacrificing depth of emotion and meaning. Themes include: marriage, infidelity, sex, suicide, literature and the Jazz Age and American ex-pat community, masculinity and aging. Really, really recommended. A very quick read, as well.
milly_in_the_library's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 🌟
I really enjoyed this- thank you, Alice!
A story of Hemingway’s four (four!) wives. An unimaginable situation: to be married to such a man!
Read on holiday in the beautiful Tuscan sunshine.
I really enjoyed this- thank you, Alice!
A story of Hemingway’s four (four!) wives. An unimaginable situation: to be married to such a man!
Read on holiday in the beautiful Tuscan sunshine.