Mrs. Hemingway

 Naomi Wood wrote Mrs. Hemingway, a book about the four women who married Ernest Hemingway. Ernest was a great writer and a charming man who thought he was sincere. He was also a cheating cad. He was as handsome as he was insecure. He married Hadley first. They had one son together. She tried hard to keep their marriage going. She went so far as to invite his mistress on vacation with them. After she granted him a divorce he married the mistress, Pauline. Ernest and Pauline had two sons together and were married the longest of his four marriages. Then he married another mistress, Martha, just two weeks after his divorce went through. When Martha learned he was unfaithful she divorced him and then he married Mary. The story is full of heartbreak and sadness as well as some wild parties, hunting, fishing, and travel. Ernest seemed to have a need to be married. I felt sorry for all the women who got caught up in the riptide that followed this brilliant, tortured, alcoholic, mentally ill man. Who, in their right mind, dedicates his book to his mistress knowing his wife will read it? Oddly enough, the four wives of Ernest Hemingway kept in touch with each other. I enjoyed this book. I know much of it is conjecture and some of it is based on facts.