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The Paris Wife

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The Paris Wife

By: Paula McLain
Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
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About this listen

Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a shy 28-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness when she meets Ernest Hemingway and is captivated by his energy, intensity and burning ambition to write. After a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for France. But glamorous Jazz Age Paris, full of artists and writers, fuelled by alcohol and gossip, is no place for family life and fidelity.

Ernest and Hadley's marriage begins to founder, and the birth of a beloved son serves only to drive them further apart. Then, at last, Ernest's ferocious literary endeavours begin to bring him recognition - not least from a woman intent on making him her own....

©2011 Paula McLain (P)2011 Random House Inc Fiction Historical Fiction

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Critic reviews

"I read it in two days, laughing and crying. What a heartbreaker . . . It has all the ingredients of a literary heart-thumper: sex, love, ambition, betrayal, impossibility and regret . . . McLain has given the voice, mind, pen and strength to a woman. Hadley is an intelligent, strong, adult woman in a deeply unsympathetic situation - glittering, but toxic and ultimately very undermining. It's a very haunting combination." (Bidisha)
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This has my 5 stars largely thanks to the superb narration, I loved the range of voices that Carrington MacDuffie brings to the dialogue, quite a range of characters, both male and female, and all of them felt right, many of them captivating, particularly Zelda Fitzgerald, 'Duff' and rather unexpectedly, Papa himself.

Lost Generation brought to life

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I loved this book, one of my all time favourites, the 1920s impeccably brought to life by the beautiful narration of Carrington MacDuffie, I felt she really was 'The Paris Wife'.

I loved this book!

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Although this is a fictional account of Hemingway in the 1920s told from the perspective of his first wife, it definitely has the ring of authenticity about it. We see Hemingway and his circle re-imagined from an altogether clearer vantage point and the book works incredibly well as a stand alone novel as well as a welcome addition to what we already know about Hemingway and his life. All the characters and locations are beautifully realised and given that Hemingway went on to have three more wives I could see there being a tremendous appetite for further 'novels' given the quality of McLain's writing and the tumultuous life Hemingway lived.

A fascinating insight from the first Mrs Hemingway

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I have to admit it took me a while to get into this book. I listened to the first couple of chapters and gave up as I thought it was boring and I just could'nt get in to it. I went back to it after a month and then I got in to it. It's okay not great. The narrator sounds like the actress Candice Bergin I could imagine to some people her voice could be annoying but I was okay with it.

Okay

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A lovely, lovely book. Beautifully written and a great story. I loved the performance too. I would highly reccomend.

Lovely Book

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Totally absorbing sorry, really enjoyed the narration too. Feel like I’ve had a short holiday

Wonderful

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I enjoy most things Paris and Hemingway, and this was no exception. It was just another view of the life and times of Ernest, and my favourite area of Paris. One thing which did annoy me a little was the way dialogue was always baldly described by ‘ I/ he/she/ Ernest/ Gertrude said’, so I felt the language could have varied slightly, but that’s just me.

A good dtory

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This book is a romance novel, but it is certainly not the chick-lit kind of romance. It is about love as it really is — beautiful and messy, with highs and lows, with compromises and sacrifices. It is a fascinating biography of Hadley Richardson, Ernest Hemingway's first wife, of whom I knew nothing about and would now love to know better. It is also a dip into social history and life in Paris in the 1920s. This book is easily my favourite book of 2015.

I couldn't put it down

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A beautiful book, narrated exactly as I would have imagined it sounded had I read it myself. Full of all the wonder and pain of an intense love affair and finished to perfection. A joy.

Wonderful

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Interesting period in time and very well written. The subject matter fascinating . I enjoyed the narrator bringing the novel to life.

Brilliant,fantastic and very enjoyable.

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