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Staff Pick
Hemingway’s charisma, determination, and aggressive masculinity are intoxicating. But those same features are all the more fascinating in Martha Gellhorn, war correspondent and Hemingway’s third wife. Love and Ruin resurrects Gellhorn as the brazen genius she was, with the talent to match her famous (and famously difficult) husband. A fun and fascinating read! Recommended By Lucinda G., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
In the heart of war, she brought to life the voices of ordinary people — and found her own. The bestselling author of The Paris Wife tells the story of Martha Gellhorn, a fiercely independent woman who would become one of the greatest war correspondents of the twentieth century.
In 1937, twenty-eight-year-old Martha Gellhorn 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 the devastating conflict. It’s her chance to prove herself a worthy journalist in a field dominated by men. There she also finds herself unexpectedly — and unwillingly — falling in love with Ernest Hemingway, a man on his way to becoming a legend. On the eve of War World War II, and set against the turbulent backdrops of Madrid and Cuba, Martha and Ernest’s relationship and their 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 forge a path as her own woman and writer. Heralded by Ann Patchett as “the new star of historical fiction,” Paula McLain brings Gellhorn’s story richly to life and captures her as a heroine for the ages: a woman who will risk absolutely everything to find her own voice.
Review
“McLain’s strengths as a novelist are formidable, especially her ability to evoke a strong sense of time and place…. This novel is important not only as historical fiction but also as a reminder of the challenges that faced career-minded women such as Gellhorn in the mid-twentieth century…. McLain is also a master at ending chapters that make you want to turn the page and see what happens next.” Houston Chronicle
Review
“McLain takes another successful trip into historical fiction…. Readers will have to remind themselves that this is fiction as McLain draws a finely detailed portrait of the chaos and destruction spreading across Spain.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Review
“McLain successfully turns Martha’s story into a romantic quest and Martha into a romantic heroine — though not a traditional one.” The Washington Post
Review
“[The] scenes of professional rivalry and seesawing imbalance are some of McLain’s best…. McLain’s legions of fans will relish the inspiration of a gutsy woman who discovers she doesn’t need a man at her side, after all.” The Boston Globe
Review
“Propulsive… highly engaging… McLain does an excellent job portraying a woman with dreams who isn’t afraid to make them real, showing [Gellhorn’s] bravery in what was very much a man’s world. Her work around the world… is presented in meticulous, hair-raising passages…. The book is fueled by her questing spirit, which asks, Why must a woman decide between being a war correspondent and a wife in her husband’s bed?” The New York Times Book Review
About the Author
Paula McLain is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Circling The Sun, The Paris Wife, and A Ticket to Ride, the memoir Like Family: Growing Up in Other People’s Houses, and two collections of poetry. She has received fellowships from Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She lives in Cleveland with her family.