Download or read book The Paris Wife written by Paula McLain and published by Turtleback Books. This book was released on 2012-11-27 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For use in schools and libraries only. Follows the life of Ernest Hemingway's first wife, Hadley, as she navigates 1920s Paris.

Download or read book Paris Without End written by Gioia Diliberto and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2011-07-05 with total page 402 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A bittersweet modern love story [that] reads as easily as a novel.” —Vogue “Fascinating. . . . A detailed, grittier portrait of the woman Hemingway loved and left.” —Newsday Hadley Richardson and Ernest Hemingway were the golden couple of Paris in the twenties, the center of an expatriate community boasting the likes of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, and James and Nora Joyce. In this haunting account of the young Hemingways, Gioia Diliberto explores their passionate courtship, their family life in Paris with baby Bumby, and their thrilling, adventurous relationship—a literary love story scarred by Hadley’s loss of the only copy of Hemingway’s first novel and ultimately destroyed by a devastating ménage à trois on the French Riviera. Compelling, illuminating, poignant, and deeply insightful, Paris Without End provides a rare, intimate glimpse of the writer who so fully captured the American imagination and the remarkable woman who inspired his passion and his art—the only woman Hemingway never stopped loving.

Download or read book Love and Ruin written by Paula McLain and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2018-05-01 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A powerful novel of the stormy marriage between Ernest Hemingway and Martha Gellhorn, a fiercely independent woman who became one of the greatest war correspondents of the twentieth century—from the author of The Paris Wife and the new novel When the Stars Go Dark, available now! “Romance, infidelity, war—Paula McLain’s powerhouse novel has it all.”—Glamour NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • New York Public Library • Bloomberg • Real Simple 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 World War II, and set against the turbulent backdrops of Madrid and Cuba, Martha and Ernest’s relationship and 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.

Download or read book The Company Daughters written by Samantha Rajaram and published by Bookouture. This book was released on 2020-10-30 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘Blew my mind… so magically written and most of all that it is based on true events… a hard-hitting, soul-crushing book… I loved every moment of it… immersive, heart-wrenching, I feel emotional writing this review.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars Wanted: Company Daughters. Virtuous young ladies to become the brides of industrious settlers in a foreign land. The Company will pay the cost of the lady’s dowry and travel. Returns not permitted, orphans preferred. Amsterdam, 1620. Jana Beil has learned that life rarely provides moments of joy. Having run away from a violent father, her days are spent searching for work in an effort to stay out of the city brothels, where desperate women trade their bodies for a mouthful of bread. But when Jana is hired as a servant for the wealthy and kind Master Reynst and his beautiful daughter Sontje, Jana’s future begins to look brighter. Then Master Reynst loses his fortune on a bad investment, and everything changes. The house is sold to creditors, leaving Jana back on the street and Sontje without a future. With no other choice, Jana and Sontje are forced to sign with the East India Company as Company Daughters: sailing to a colonial Dutch outpost to become the brides of male settlers they know nothing about. With fear in their hearts, the girls begin their journey – but what awaits them on the other side of the world is nothing like what they’ve been promised… Based on true history, this is a gripping and unputdownable historical novel, perfect for fans of Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Miniaturist and The Indigo Girl. WINNER OF THE 2021 GOLDEN CROWN LITERARY SOCIETY AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION. FINALIST FOR THE 2021 BISEXUAL BOOK AWARDS. LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 HWA DEBUT CROWN AWARD. What readers are saying about The Company Daughters: ‘Blew my mind… a book I've told so many people about purely because I'm still in disbelief that it exists, that it's so magically written and most of all that it is based on true events… a hard-hitting, soul-crushing book of a woman's struggle to survive… I loved every moment of it. Breathlessly, and in a way that took up my entire brain… immersive, heart-wrenching, and I feel emotional writing this review.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars ‘From the moment I started reading The Company Daughters, I was captivated by this historical tale. Although it does contain a love story, it's not a romance…This was a gripping read.’ Goodreads reviewer ‘This book is so stunningly tender and beautiful, all mixed in with some seriously tragic and heart-wrenching events… Rajaram is an extremely skilled writer, and I love her writing style… The themes of sisterhood and female love were so present in this book and I found it very moving.’ Goodreads reviewer ‘I was enchanted by this book! It’s a delightful read that will have your emotions all over the place.’ Goodreads reviewer ‘I love historical fiction, and this book touched on a topic and time I knew nearly nothing about…There’s love, there’s loss, there’s surviving, there’s thriving… It was a very beautiful book.’ Goodreads reviewer ‘The Company Daughters is a beautifully written love story… a perfect example of the power of human will and the endurance and hope that love can give a person.’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars ‘This book has a beauty and grace to it. The author’s writing just flows off the page, and although there are struggles and upsets by the time you close the book over you are filled with a warm glow.’ Goodreads reviewer ‘A powerful and insightful read. I look forward to reading more historical work by Samantha Rajaram!’ Goodreads reviewer ‘Heartbreaking… a moving book… vivid, with amazing characters… This is a great read.’ Goodreads reviewer

Download or read book Circling the Sun written by Paula McLain and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2015-07-28 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR, BOOKPAGE, AND SHELF AWARENESS • “Paula McLain is considered the new star of historical fiction, and for good reason. Fans of The Paris Wife will be captivated by Circling the Sun, which . . . is both beautifully written and utterly engrossing.”—Ann Patchett, Country Living This powerful novel transports readers to the breathtaking world of Out of Africa—1920s Kenya—and reveals the extraordinary adventures of Beryl Markham, a woman before her time. Brought to Kenya from England by pioneering parents dreaming of a new life on an African farm, Beryl is raised unconventionally, developing a fierce will and a love of all things wild. But after everything she knows and trusts dissolves, headstrong young Beryl is flung into a string of disastrous relationships, then becomes caught up in a passionate love triangle with the irresistible safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and the writer Baroness Karen Blixen. Brave and audacious and contradictory, Beryl will risk everything to have Denys’s love, but it’s ultimately her own heart she must conquer to embrace her true calling and her destiny: to fly. Praise for Circling the Sun “In McLain’s confident hands, Beryl Markham crackles to life, and we readers truly understand what made a woman so far ahead of her time believe she had the power to soar.”—Jodi Picoult, author of Leaving Time “Enchanting . . . a worthy heir to [Isak] Dinesen . . . Like Africa as it’s so gorgeously depicted here, this novel will never let you go.”—The Boston Globe “Famed aviator Beryl Markham is a novelist’s dream. . . . [A] wonderful portrait of a complex woman who lived—defiantly—on her own terms.”—People (Book of the Week) “Circling the Sun soars.”—Newsday “Captivating . . . [an] irresistible novel.”—The Seattle Times “Like its high-flying subject, Circling the Sun is audacious and glamorous and hard not to be drawn in by. Beryl Markham may have married more than once, but she was nobody’s wife.”—Entertainment Weekly “[An] eloquent evocation of Beryl’s daring life.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

Download or read book When the Stars Go Dark written by Paula McLain and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2021-04-13 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GOOD MORNING AMERICA BUZZ PICK • “A total departure for the author of The Paris Wife, McLain’s emotionally intense and exceptionally well-written thriller entwines its fictional crime with real cases.”—People (Book of the Week) NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY MARIE CLAIRE • “The kind of heart-pounding conclusion that thriller fans crave . . . In the end, a book full of darkness lands with a message of hope.”—The New York Times Book Review “This mystery will keep you guessing, and stay with you long after you finish. Dive in.”—Daily Skimm Anna Hart is a seasoned missing persons detective in San Francisco with far too much knowledge of the darkest side of human nature. When tragedy strikes her personal life, Anna, desperate and numb, flees to the Northern California village of Mendocino to grieve. She lived there as a child with her beloved foster parents, and now she believes it might be the only place left for her. Yet the day she arrives, she learns that a local teenage girl has gone missing. The crime feels frighteningly reminiscent of the most crucial time in Anna’s childhood, when the unsolved murder of a young girl touched Mendocino and changed the community forever. As past and present collide, Anna realizes that she has been led to this moment. The most difficult lessons of her life have given her insight into how victims come into contact with violent predators. As Anna becomes obsessed with saving the missing girl, she must accept that true courage means getting out of her own way and learning to let others in. Weaving together actual cases of missing persons, trauma theory, and a hint of the metaphysical, this propulsive and deeply affecting novel tells a story of fate, necessary redemption, and what it takes, when the worst happens, to reclaim our lives—and our faith in one another.

Download or read book The Crane Wife written by CJ Hauser and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2023-06-27 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A memoir in essays that expands on the viral sensation “The Crane Wife” with a frank and funny look at love, intimacy, and self in the twenty-first century. From friends and lovers to blood family and chosen family, this “elegant masterpiece” (Roxane Gay, New York Times bestselling author of Hunger) asks what more expansive definitions of love might offer ​us all. A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: TIME, THE GUARDIAN, GARDEN & GUN "Hauser builds their life's inventory out of deconstructed personal narratives, resulting in a reading experience that's rich like a complicated dessert—not for wolfing down but for savoring in small bites." —The New York Times “Clever, heartfelt, and wrenching.” —Time “Brilliant.” —Oprah Daily Ten days after calling off their wedding, CJ Hauser went on an expedition to Texas to study the whooping crane. After a week wading through the gulf, they realized they'd almost signed up to live someone else's life. What if you released yourself from traditional narratives of happiness? What if you looked for ways to leave room for the unexpected? In Hauser’s case, this meant dissecting pop culture touchstone, from The Philadelphia Story to The X Files, to learn how not to lose yourself in a relationship. They attended a robot convention, contemplated grief at John Belushi’s gravesite, and officiated a wedding. Most importantly, they mapped the difference between the stories we’re asked to hold versus those we choose to carry. Told with the late-night barstool directness of your wisest, most bighearted friend, The Crane Wife is a book for everyone whose path doesn't look the way they thought it would; for everyone learning to find joy in the not-knowing and to build a new sort of life story, a new sort of family, a new sort of home to live in.

Download or read book Paris A Love Story written by Kati Marton and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-03-12 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Marton first spent time in Paris during college in 1968, when France was in revolt; as a young student she was inspired by researching the history of her survivalist family who had escaped from communist Hungary to France. Ten years later, Paris was the setting for her big career break as ABC bureau chief, as well as where she found passionate love with Peter Jennings, the man to whom she was married for 15 years and had two children. It was again in Paris, years later, where she found enduring love with her husband, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. And it was to Paris where Kati returned in order to rebuild her spirit in the wake of Richard's death. Kati Marton's newest memoir is a candid exploration of many kinds of love, as well as a love letter to the city of Paris itself.

Download or read book Paris by the Book written by Liam Callanan and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-04-03 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NATIONAL BESTSELLER A missing person, a grieving family, a curious clue: a half-finished manuscript set in Paris Once a week, I chase men who are not my husband. . . . When eccentric novelist Robert Eady abruptly vanishes, he leaves behind his wife, Leah, their daughters, and, hidden in an unexpected spot, plane tickets to Paris. Hoping to uncover clues--and her husband--Leah sets off for France with her girls. Upon their arrival, she discovers an unfinished manuscript, one Robert had been writing without her knowledge . . . and that he had set in Paris. The Eady girls follow the path of the manuscript to a small, floundering English-language bookstore whose weary proprietor is eager to sell. Leah finds herself accepting the offer on the spot. As the family settles into their new Parisian life, they trace the literary paths of some beloved Parisian classics, including Madeline and The Red Balloon, hoping more clues arise. But a series of startling discoveries forces Leah to consider that she may not be ready for what solving this mystery might do to her family--and the Paris she thought she knew. Charming, haunting, and triumphant, Paris by the Book follows one woman's journey as she writes her own story, exploring the power of family and the magic that hides within the pages of a book.

Download or read book A Moveable Feast written by Ernest Hemingway and published by DigiCat. This book was released on 2022-08-16 with total page 145 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "A Moveable Feast" by Ernest Hemingway. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

Download or read book Like Family written by Paula McLain and published by Back Bay Books. This book was released on 2009-09-26 with total page 191 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An astonishing memoir that "demonstrates the true meaning of family" from the author of The Paris Wife and When the Stars Go Dark, detailing the years Paula McLain and her two sisters spent as foster children after being abandoned by both parents in California in the early 1970s and (Chicago Tribune). As wards of the State, the sisters spent the next 14 years moving from foster home to foster home. The dislocations, confusions, and odd pleasures of an unrooted life form the basis of one of the most compelling memoirs in recent years -- a book the tradition of Jo Ann Beard's The Boys of My Youth and Mary Karr's The Liar's Club. McLain's beautiful writing and limber voice capture the intense loneliness, sadness, and determination of a young girl both on her own and responsible, with her siblings, for staying together as a family.

Download or read book Mrs Hemingway written by Naomi Wood and published by Picador. This book was released on 2015-01 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the dazzling summer of 1926, Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley travel from their home in Paris to a villa in the south of France. They swim, play bridge and drink gin. But wherever they go they are accompanied by the glamorous and irrepressible Fife. Fife is Hadleyâe(tm)s best friend. She is also Ernestâe(tm)s lover. Hadley is the first Mrs. Hemingway, but neither she nor Fife will be the last. Over the ensuing decades, Ernestâe(tm)s literary career will blaze a trail, but his marriages will be ignited by passion and deceit. Four extraordinary women will learn what it means to love the most famous writer of his generation, and each will be forced to ask herself how far she will go to remain his wifeâe¦ Luminous and intoxicating, Mrs. Hemingway portrays real lives with rare intimacy and plumbs the depths of the human heart.

Download or read book The Aviator s Wife written by Melanie Benjamin and published by Delacorte Press. This book was released on 2013-01-15 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the spirit of Loving Frank and The Paris Wife, acclaimed novelist Melanie Benjamin pulls back the curtain on the marriage of one of America’s most extraordinary couples: Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. “The history [is] exhilarating. . . . The Aviator’s Wife soars.”—USA Today NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER When Anne Morrow, a shy college senior with hidden literary aspirations, travels to Mexico City to spend Christmas with her family, she meets Colonel Charles Lindbergh, fresh off his celebrated 1927 solo flight across the Atlantic. Enthralled by Charles’s assurance and fame, Anne is certain the aviator has scarcely noticed her. But she is wrong. Charles sees in Anne a kindred spirit, a fellow adventurer, and her world will be changed forever. The two marry in a headline-making wedding. In the years that follow, Anne becomes the first licensed female glider pilot in the United States. But despite this and other major achievements, she is viewed merely as the aviator’s wife. The fairy-tale life she once longed for will bring heartbreak and hardships, ultimately pushing her to reconcile her need for love and her desire for independence, and to embrace, at last, life’s infinite possibilities for change and happiness. Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more. Praise for The Aviator’s Wife “Remarkable . . . The Aviator’s Wife succeeds [in] putting the reader inside Anne Lindbergh’s life with her famous husband.”—The Denver Post “Anne Morrow Lindbergh narrates the story of the Lindberghs’ troubled marriage in all its triumph and tragedy.”—USA Today “[This novel] will fascinate history buffs and surprise those who know of her only as ‘the aviator’s wife.’ ”—People “It’s hard to quit reading this intimate historical fiction.”—The Dallas Morning News “Fictional biography at its finest.”—Booklist (starred review) “Utterly unforgettable.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “An intimate examination of the life and emotional mettle of Anne Morrow.”—The Washington Post “A story of both triumph and pain that will take your breath away.”—Kate Alcott, author of The Dressmaker

Download or read book The Paris Wife written by Meghan Masterson and published by Bookouture. This book was released on 2021-08-18 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Paris, 1856. My head spins with hunger as the countess steers me towards the kitchen, her scarlet gown glimmering in the light of a hundred long candles. The clang of pots and scent of sage overwhelm my senses and my baby flutters inside me. But as I reach for the dish of currants, my eyes narrow. About half of them are larger and blacker than the rest. My blood feels slow and thick in my veins. Those are deadly nightshade berries. I would swear it. Newly married to Niccolo, a wealthy envoy to the French emperor, skilled herbalist Livia Valenti feels lost and alone. Her husband is a distant stranger, and their echoing Paris mansion is too far from her fragrant garden in Italy. But then Niccolo fills the shelves with her favourite books and prepares an apothecary room full of rows of shining glass jars. And a beautiful romance begins to blossom. With masked balls, luxurious dinner parties and a new life growing inside her, Livia believes her dreams of love and happiness may finally come true. Until an assassination attempt is made on Napoleon III. And Niccolo is arrested for treason… As Niccolo awaits execution in prison, Livia turns to Napoleon’s glamorous mistress Elisabetta. With her friend’s influence and connections and Livia’s knowledge of poisons, she thinks she can discover who is trying to kill the emperor. But then tragedy strikes, and dark secrets in Livia’s own past come back to haunt her. They are all in terrible danger, and it will take all of Livia’s courage to save her husband and their baby… An absolutely gripping historical novel about the power held by women in a world run by men. Beautiful and heart-breaking, fans of Lucinda Riley, Kate Morton and Marie Benedict will be hooked from the very first page until the final, breath-taking conclusion. Readers absolutely adore The Paris Wife: ‘Heart-wrenching and page-turning… A completely gripping and imaginative historical novel… A truly addictive story that I just couldn't put down. A must read.’ Drink in Life Blog ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Unputdownable from page one!... a real comfort read… my BEST book so far in 2021!’ Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Thrilling… I cannot turn the pages fast enough… a brilliant historical novel… impossible to put down and hard to forget.’ Bookish Jottings ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I absolutely could not stop reading this… and when I wasn’t reading I was thinking about the book… Gripping… I was totally absorbed.’ Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A page turner! Mystery, intrigue, danger at every turn. I couldn’t put it down… had me on the edge of my seat.’ Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Hooked me from the very first page and didn’t let go until the end.’ Nat’s Bookish Corner ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I couldn't put this book down, I was totally captivated.’ Fiction Vixen ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Grabbed me from the very beginning… a real delight.’ Goodreads reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This was just the most beautiful book… I haven't read anything quite as engaging as this in recent years!’ NetGalley reviewer ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Download or read book Hemingway in Love written by A. E. Hotchner and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2015-10-20 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In June of 1961, A.E. Hotchner visited an old friend in the psychiatric ward of St. Mary's Hospital. It would be the last time they spoke: a few weeks later, Ernest Hemingway was released home, where he took his own life. Their final conversation was also the final installment in a story whose telling Hemingway had spread over nearly a decade. Hemingway divulged the details of the affair that destroyed his first marriage: the truth of his romantic life in Paris and how he lost Hadley, the true part of the literary woman he'd create and the great love he spent the rest of his life seeking. He told of the mischief that made him a legend: of impotence cured in a house of God; of a plane crash in the African bush, from which he stumbled with a bunch of bananas and a bottle of gin in hand; of F. Scott Fitzgerald dispensing romantic advice; of midnight champagne with Josephine Baker; of adventure, human error, and life after lost love. This is Hemingway as few have known him: humble and full of regret. To protect the feelings of Ernest's wife Mary (also a close friend) and to satisfy the terms of his publisher's cautious legal review, Hotch kept the conversations to himself for decades. Now he tells the story as Hemingway told it to him. Hemingway in Love puts you in the room with the master as he remembers the definitive years that set the course for the rest of his life and stayed with him until the end of his days"--

Download or read book Hadley written by Gioia Diliberto and published by Houghton Mifflin. This book was released on 1992 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the fotsteps of the acclaimed Zelda and Nora comes this remarkable portrait of Hadley Richardson, Hemingway's first wife--and his first and most enduring love. When they met in 1920, she was 29 and he was only 20, but despite the age difference, they proved to be the golden couple of Paris in the '20s. 24 pages of photographs.

Download or read book Hemingway s Widow written by Timothy Christian and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-03-01 with total page 512 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A stunning portrait of the complicated woman who becomes Ernest Hemingway's fourth wife, tracing her adventures before she meets Ernest, exploring the tumultuous years of their marriage, and evoking her merry widowhood as she shapes Hemingway's literary legacy. Mary Welsh, a celebrated wartime journalist during the London Blitz and the liberation of Paris, meets Ernest Hemingway in May 1944. He becomes so infatuated with Mary that he asks her to marry him the third time they meet—although they are married to other people. Eventually, she succumbs to Ernest's campaign, and in the last days of the war joined him at his estate in Cuba. Through Mary's eyes, we see Ernest Hemingway in a fresh light. Their turbulent marriage survives his cruelty and abuse, perhaps because of their sexual compatibility and her essential contribution to his writing. She reads and types his work each day—and makes plot suggestions. She becomes crucial to his work and he depends upon her critical reading of his work to know if he has it right. We watch the Hemingways as they travel to the ski country of the Dolomites, commute to Harry's Bar in Venice; attend bullfights in Pamplona and Madrid; go on safari in Kenya in the thick of the Mau Mau Rebellion; and fish the blue waters of the gulf stream off Cuba in Ernest's beloved boat Pilar. We see Ernest fall in love with a teenaged Italian countess and wonder at Mary's tolerance of the affair. We witness Ernest's sad decline and Mary's efforts to avoid the stigma of suicide by claiming his death was an accident. In the years following Ernest's death, Mary devotes herself to his literary legacy, negotiating with Castro to reclaim Ernest's manuscripts from Cuba, publishing one-third of his work posthumously. She supervises Carlos Baker's biography of Ernest, sues A. E. Hotchner to try and prevent him from telling the story of Ernest's mental decline, and spends years writing her memoir in her penthouse overlooking the New York skyline. Her story is one of an opinionated woman who smokes Camels, drinks gin, swears like a man, sings like Edith Piaf, loves passionately, and experiments with gender fluidity in her extraordinary life with Ernest. This true story reads like a novel—and the reader will be hard pressed not to fall for Mary.