Mary Hemingway (1908–1986)

"Of the fifteen thousand lakes which gladdened the forests of northern Minnesota in the teens of this century, my father's and my favorite was Leech Lake, where summers, he worked and I explored, dawdled and daydreamed." Thus begins the very entertaining and well-written autobiography by the fourth and final wife of Ernest Hemingway. Mary Hemingway was a journalist of note who achieved her greatest acclaim as a writer for Time during WWII. Writing from London during the blitz, she showed the show more same courage and love of cutting edge adventure as Ernest displayed throughout his life. She met Ernest during the war and both fell in love despite both being already married. After they married she shared his love of fishing, hunting, late night parties, bull fighting, drinking and books. Mary tries to give a balanced view of their marriage, but the picture that emerges of her husband is of a very selfish, difficult and at times irrational artist who shows little regard for others. Worth reading not only because of the fame of Ernest, but because of the highly honed skill of the writer in presenting a book as easily read as a novel. show less

I've you read about Hemingway's life you have to read this one. She spent a lot of time in the latter part of the book discussing what fish they caught and how much they weighed, but her recounting of the African Safari and the plane crash is a must read.