Welcome to Litsy!

“This is everything I love. It's all right here. We're our own country.”

HF that explores the adventurous, passionate and stormy marriage of journalist Martha Gellhorn and Ernest Hemingway in Europe‘s pre- and post onset of WWII. #Bookspin

#Read2025 #LitsyAtoZ #Bookspinbingo #Pantone2025

@DieAReader @Texreader @TheAromaofBooks @BarbaraBB @Lauredhel

The Paris Wife is one of my favorite books. I'm not a fan of Hemmingways books, I'm obsessed with the women in his life.

Love & Ruin focuses on wife number 3. Martha Gellhorn, a woman considered one of the greatest war correspondents of the 20th century.

McLain creates a vibe that absorbs me fully. Smoked filled rooms, whiskey on the rocks, artistic types with deep feelings, daydreamers immersed in reality. Typewriters, affairs and hangovers.

So two of these are repeats because I didn‘t finish them and my book order got switched around by add-ons…oops!! # 60- Love and Ruin, # 76- All the King‘s Men, and # 83- Memoirs of a Geisha!!

Historical fiction about Hemingway and his third wife Martha Gellhorn, a famous war correspondent and writer in her own right. My favorite of his wives, actually, and delighted to have her story presented here on its own terms.

Paula McLain, the author of The Parisian wife, has written Martha Gellhorn's fictional biography. Gellhorn was Hemingway's third wife and, before all, one of the first female war correspondants. A fascinating life story, a bit less fascinating storytelling🙂

The title is terrible. It implies that Gellhorn's life was ruined after her love affair and marriage with Hemingway; yet she had 54 more incredible, productive, and successful years ahead of her. She was one of the greatest war correspondents, but McLain doesn't honor her entire memory. https://onthebl.org/2020/10/06/ignore-the-title-paula-mclains-love-and-ruin-isnt...

#3books #thatIvegiftedtoothers
(1) Love and Ruin, for my mom
(2) The Golden Compass, for my sister
(3) Nagy szamárfül (Big Dog-ear), for my dad, which is one of the best gifts my sis and I have ever given him for Fathers' day. He's not much of a reader but he was so happy with this collection of poetry by his favourite poet that he carried it everywhere for a while ☺️
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

I started out disliking this, ended up loving it. A fictional retelling of the early writing career of author and war journalist Martha Gellhorn, Ernest Hemingway‘s third wife. A woman who ultimately had to choose whether to be true to herself and her identity or to allow herself to be subsumed by her powerful and demanding husband. The author‘s note at the end chronicling Marty‘s full career left me even more intrigued and impressed by her.

My entire day disappeared into this book. I picked it up this morning even though I am in the middle of two other books and that was it. While I cannot understand the appeal of Hemingway, I was drawn into the story of Gellhorn and her work as a war correspondent and her desire for her own success.

Well written and heart-shattering. Based on Hemingway and Martha Gelhorn. Couldn't stop reading. Beautiful.

Really enjoyed this. Two strong personalities fall in love and fight. I really liked this version of Martha Gellhorn and I was rooting for her in a way that I didn‘t expect. Enjoyable - even if you‘re not a Hemingway fan.

I‘ve got a mega yearning for novels about real people, so I started this tonight. But what on earth is this genre called? Fictionalised biography? Biographic novels? Help me!!

"It seemed unlikely that I would ever see him or any of the others from the ship again. Something had happened to us all, something that might never be fully comprehensible to anyone who had not gone through it. That was the thing about experience. It took distant strangers and made them family. A family of one moment. There was no other way to see it, even as we scattered to the wind."

"Not that I didn't have ambition. Sometimes I thought I was entirely made of it. As I'd said to Kyle, I meant to show him and everyone else that I could be a proper journalist, a writer others admired and respected and remembered. I wanted my name to count but for the moment was still an apprentice, and particularly in this crowd, where heroes were milling about, ready to be clung to. It would take time for me to earn my way. To prove myself..."

Martha travels to report on war in Spain in the 1930s. From there she keeps being drawn to battle zones and also Ernest Hemingway?

While I enjoyed The Paris Wife and Circling the Sun, I‘d have to say that this book has been my favorite of Paula McClain‘s works. I previously knew nothing about Martha Gellhorn, one of the most well respected war correspondents of the 20th century who also happened to be Ernest Hemingway‘s third wife. She was a fascinating woman who led a very unconventional life for her time and I‘d love to seek out some of her works now too.

Although I knew the story of Hemingway and Gellhorn, this was hard to put down. Consumed mostly on audio.

Day two of back to back events with my lovely friend, Patti Callahan Henry. This time we got to learn how to make pie with the amazing Beth Howard. Along for the pie making was the beautiful and talented Paula McLain. My job is freakin‘ awesome some days (most days).

This is told in Hemingway‘s 3rd wife Martha Gellhorn‘s POV who‘s a war correspondent (+ very independent—Hemingway did not take it well!) The couple met in a Key West bar while Hemingway was still married. After a lengthy affair they married in 1940 proving to be a tempestuous one. This chronicles their relationship + demise. Is an engaging fictional story told in researched historical detail. The more I learn about Hemingway the less I like him.

#weekendreads

1- The Minimalist Way, The Hollow Bones and finishing up Love and Ruin—am enjoying way more than The Paris Wife 👍🏻

2- The Help

3- Goodreads

She's the kind of girl you dream of
Dream of keeping hold of
You'd better forget it
You'll never get it
She will play around and leave you
Leave you and deceive you
Better forget it
Oh you'll regret it

#easylover #anglophileapril @Cinfhen @Mdargusch @Reviewsbylola @emilyhaldi

‘The affair begun and ended, the damage done and the repairs under way, my battered heart on the mend. Because he would break my heart. I already knew that if nothing else.‘

Hemingway probably was not an #easylover to Martha Gellhorn. 🤷‍♀️

#anglophileapril

Fictionalized retelling of Martha Gellhorn‘s life and relationship with Hemingway.

This book 💙 Wonderful historical fiction about Ernest Hemingway and future wife. 1/3 way through and loving every bit of it. #hemingway

Ernest Hemingway met his match in Martha Gellhorn. She was independent, driven, and her own person. I don't think he handled it all that well. Lol. I thought this was a great portrait of Martha and it makes me want to read her novels.

#LitsyAtoZ

Beautiful written. Ten times better than The Paris Wife. I just prefer a faster moving book 🤷🏻‍♀️

302 books. 99,361 pages. Thanks for the journey, 2018 💙📖

(also, bring it on 2019 💪🏻)

Trying to read one more before 2019

While slow at points in the first half, I give this a solid 👍. The author‘s note at the end resounded w me. I relate so much to Marty‘s struggle between home life/personal relationships and her passions/drive/action. She could not be her without the latter. Even tho I despise the Hemingway and do *not* understand her draw to him, I dk many marriages that could sustain repeated several-months long absences of the wife and mother. Unfair & true.

I never tire of reading about the brilliant but egotistical Hem, and the women in his orbit who seemed so brave, warm-hearted and strong.
This book about the love affair and marriage of Ernest and writer Martha Gellhorn has a beautiful sense of place, full of gorgeous descriptions. And it captures the charisma that drew people to Hem, along with the complexities of a relationship full of petty professional jealousies and a passion for each other.

#nextup
Just starting this one for #pop18 #anovelbasedonarealperson
I love this cover 😍 And so far I‘m loving the fictional Martha‘s voice.... High hopes here🤞

So far a quick read - hoping to finish this weekend!

I was disappointed in this book. I liked McLain‘s others. Aren‘t there numerous books about Ernest? Maybe I‘m Hemingway-ed out.🤷🏼‍♀️

@LibrarianRyan

L - Love and Ruin
I - Illuminae
S - Seveneves
A - A Gentleman in Moscow

I have read all but the 1st one.

My book haul from Barnes & Noble‘s Book Haul!

The Paris wife has been on my TBR list for a while and I haven't gotten to it yet 🙁. so, when this copy of love and Rune, by the same author came my way, I knew I had to read it 😊. Fascinating and slightly disturbing book about Marty (Martha) Gellhorn (Ernest Hemingway's 3rd wife) and Ernest Hemingway. Marty strikes me as being fearless and Hemingway brilliant & a bit of an a$$ 🤔. Wonderfully written, great historical fiction! #13Books13Weeks

A novelized version of Hemingway‘s relationship with his third wife Martha Gellhorn. She was a war correspondent who met Hemingway in Key west. As two writers they struggled with professionalu jealous. I wasn‘t a fan of the few bits that were from his POV, but loved learning more about her work and life.

“The interesting thing about chaos is that it provides perfect privacy.”

“I don‘t know if I believe in war, it just makes ghosts.”

SO beautiful.

Great price for this one. #kindledeal

Might as well enjoy a great book while waiting for an oil change! #summerreads #ernesthemingway #summerdays

I was hoping to love this as it‘s got my name written all over it but it wasn‘t as good as I thought it would be. The dialogue didn‘t feel real and it never really drew me in, I think maybe because it‘s very descriptive but lacks real emotion, for me. I do love the people she writes about though and there are some good sentences. A decent read but nothing to write home about unfortunately.

This tells the story of Martha Gellhorn, an amazing war correspondent and fiction writer who was in a relationship with, and later married to, Ernest Hemingway. This book does so many things well, and I couldn't put it down once I had started. I will be looking into Gellhorn's works, because she sounds absolutely fascinating. I can't wait to read whatever Paula McLain does next!

#24in48 @24in48

Reading on the porch this morning, and I'm just about to pull some croissants out of the oven. It's drizzly and rainy out, which is perfect readathon weather! I'm loving this book, which is nothing new for me with Paula McLain. I'm absolutely flying through. #24in48 @24in48

"It was all so shocking and so absolutely wrong. And yet you could almost pretend it wasn't happening by going on with your life and thinking it had nothing to do with you."

True in the years leading up to WW2, and just as true today.

I signed up for #24in48 forgetting that I‘m visiting family all weekend so won‘t have much time to read but I look forward to seeing all your posts ❤️

I love a good epigraph 👌

Thanks to a rainy morning, I was able to complete my #BackpackEurope read. A reimagining of Martha Gellhorn‘s romance with the dashing, complicated and very married Ernest Hemingway. Eventually becoming wife #3, Martha was a successful, independent war correspondent and trailblazer beginning in the 1930‘s. This book was revealing but I felt like the author really stretched the story ~ much more descriptive than informative #BorrowNotBuy #Madrid

The VERY first line of my new read #BookKarma #Lucky13 #FridayThe13

#BackPackEurope @JenP so I left Ireland and I‘ve made my way into Spain 🇪🇸

I am so bad at remembering I have ebooks on hold. Started this one and really need to start reading before bed again. Love me some books about Hemingway and his wives. #summerreads #papahemingway #historicalfiction