BOOK CHAT - Ernest Hemingway- The Paris Wife/The Sun also Rises

BYO Coffee, Tea, Breakfast Sandwich (or not!) and join us for an informal and friendly discussion
of 2 interesting stories by and about Ernest Hemingway. Both books are short so don't panic, and books should be readily available as they are not current best sellers!

The Paris Wife
Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking, fast-living, and free-loving life of Jazz Age Paris. As Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history and pours himself into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises, Hadley strives to hold on to her sense of self as her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Eventually they find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.

A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.

The Sun Also Rises:
The Sun Also Rises is Hemingway’s first novel, published in 1926. This novel today is considered an exemplar of experimental and influential modernist writing.

Europe in the 1920s, a poignant entangled love story filled with romance, passion, love, loss and the power to endure. During the aftermath of World War 1, the story follows Jake Barnes, an American War veteran and journalist, and Lady Brett Ashley, an independent, wealthy Englishwoman whose lust for her newfound liberation and sexual freedom knows no boundaries.

Aptly named ‘The Lost Generation’ Hemingway depicts the suffering and disillusionment of this generation who grew up in the shadow of the first world war, the themes of passion, jealousy, exuberance, and masculinity all come to the fore. The novel follows the group of British and American expatriates in Paris and their decision to travel to Pamplona for the bull-running fiesta.