The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

image - book coverOne thing you should know about me is that sometimes I go into bookstores or libraries and select books to read based on nothing more substantial than the fact that I like they way they look, feel, and smell.  Somehow they speak to me, and I pick them.  Most people think that’s weird, but I prefer my method even over Amazon.com’s recommendations for me.  (gasp)  I really hope libraries and bookstores never completely go away.

So I needed some books to take on my retreat to Maui this January.  And I saw this one at a bookstore.  I like wives.  Find them interesting.  Also, I’m going to Paris this year with my friend Shalaina.  So I took this one along to Maui.  (Along with six other books I already had in queue.)  So… most people understand that when you bring 7 books to Maui for a week, you’re not going to finish them.  No way, right?  But I get over-ambitious.  And I knew I wouldn’t have my laptop and so I was a bit afraid of being bored.  Little did I realize that wouldn’t be an issue AT ALL, but I digress.   Long story short, I’m not finished with this novel yet, but I’m enjoying it so much that I wanted to blog about it.  It’s about Ernest Hemingway and his wife, and their marriage and his work and relationships with other writers and artists of the time.  Warning: the plot is a little depressing, but the prose is so nicely written that it’s such a pleasure to read.More