Oh, I'm afraid this one was a yawnfest for me. A recitation of Ernest Hemingway, his first wife Hadley and the "lost generation" of writers and artists who hung out mostly in Paris during the 1920's. The list of writers was probably the most interesting part of the book. It is definitely a "tell me" not a "show me" book. In no part of the story did I get invested in any of the characters and frankly I could not care how many times they got drunk or who slept with whom. It seems all they did was drink.
The story, and I use that term loosely, is coldly told from Hadley's perspective. She is just an adjunct to Ernest having almost no interests of her own other than playing the piano. I got no feelings of emotion from her even when her husband was playing around with Pauline who would become his second wife. Hadley always took the path of least resistance.
If you think you're going to read great descriptions of Paris, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed in this one. 2**
Note: I posted this review on LT last year but when I saw a review of the book yesterday by Deb at Book Magic and we had a little discussion about Hadley, I thought I'd post my review here.
Disclosure: A review copy of the book was provided by Ballantine Books through LibraryThing's early reviewer program.
I just started listening to the audiobook yesterday but not too far in yet. I'll keep your review in mind :)
ReplyDeleteI am disappointed that you were disappointed! I had great hopes for this one.
ReplyDeleteHmmm...I haven't read any other reviews of this book yet. I've been aware of it. Lovely cover. Another headless woman though. What is it about that trend? Do women not have faces anymore? LOL
ReplyDeleteI've been curious about this book, too bad it was a disappointment :-(
ReplyDeleteSorry this didn't work for you.
ReplyDeletewell...I like the cover!
ReplyDeleteYawnfest...I'm passing! I have to admit that I thought about reading it once or twice..thanks for saving me the bother!
ReplyDeleteToo bad this one wasn't better as it sounded promising (always loved that particular era). As always thanks for the candid review!
ReplyDeleteoh no, I just got the audio from the library.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the heads up!
ReplyDeleteI was on the fence about this book, debating if I wanted to read it or not, your review solved my problem. Thanks for the honest review.
ReplyDeletehmmm ... I've been wanting this one because I just think that era must have been fun to live in.
ReplyDelete