The Paris Wife To Be Discussed at Canton Public Library

            Monday Night Book Club at Canton Public Library takes us back to Paris in the 1920s with a discussion of The Paris Wife  by Paula McLain on Monday, May 14.  The discussion begins at 7:00 PM.

            The Paris Wife is a fictionalized account of the courtship and marriage of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley Richardson.  Although fiction, the story was carefully researched by McLain, who tells the story through the eyes of Hadley.  In Chicago in 1920, Hemingway met and courted Hadley, eight years his senior.  Following their marriage, they became part of the expatriate scene in Paris, part of a lively, hard-drinking, free-living set that included Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, the Fitzgeralds, and James Joyce.  Hadley tried very hard to be the wife, friend and muse of Hemingway, at a time when open marriage, mistresses, and erratic lifestyles severely threatened any monogamous relationship.  Not surprisingly, the marriage of this “golden couple” fell apart.

            Copies of the book are available at the library.  Readers may also want to read A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway, his memoir of his years in Paris.  New members are always welcome to join Monday Night Book Club.  Canton Public Library is at 40 Dyer Avenue, Canton.  For information:  (860) 693-5800 or www.cantonpubliclibrary.org