Confessions of a Book Nerd

It's no secret that I'm a Fitzgerald fanatic. Seriously, I'm so overcome with love for Fitzgerald in every form that I considered named my dog both Gatsby and Fitz. So if you, too, are a lover of Gatsby, of Zelda and Fitz's turbulent, romantic and chaotic lifestyle, or ole Fitzgerald's lyrical words themselves, heed my oncoming advice with utmost seriousness (ready for it?) :

Go and buy The Paris Wife by Paula McLain. 

Right now. 

(And try to savor it, and not devour it as I did.)

This novel details the life of Ernest Hemingway and his lovely first wife, Hadley Richardson. A marriage based on love at first sight, breathless romance, and total infatuation quickly evolves as the couple takes off for Paris during the jazz age to befriend the likes of Ezra Pound, James Joyce, and the Fitzgeralds themselves while encountering scandal, infidelity, and the chaotic undertones of the era. While fictional in tone and attitude, McClain's writing depicts every aspect of the Hemingways lives, taking details from real-life love letters, biographies, and Hemingway's own work to paint a canvas that spans six years and then some from Hadley's perspective. And don't even get me started on her beautiful language, which is pure art in itself.

I can not say enough how much I loved this novel. I actually forced it on my friend Michelle, who shares the same taste as me, knowing that she'd tell me if my opinion of this book was a little biased.
She finished it in a day and a half.

"I wish I had died before I loved anyone but her."

- Ernest Hemingway

I suggest buying the hard cover copy, seeing as you're going to want to re-read it 1,231 times and don't want it to get ratty. Plus, it's a lovely cover on a bookshelf.
xoxo