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A novel by Paula McLain called The Paris Wife tells the fictionalized story of Ernest Hemingway and his wife, Hadley Richardson.

In the novel, Hadley and Ernest meet at a party thrown by Kate. Hadley is instantly captivated by Ernest, who is seven years younger than her. She wants to know more about him but Kate refuses to tell her anything. After another chance meeting, they begin writing letters to each other frequently.

Ernest is open about his family situation. He tells Hadley that he likes his father, but dislikes his mother because she’s domineering. Hadley doesn’t talk about her own past in her letters, instead revealing it through flashbacks. She recently lost both of her parents and also has a poor relationship with one of her sisters, who resents Hadley for having romantic success and hopes she never finds it herself. In addition to this, Hadley suffers from lingering trauma from an accident when she was young where she almost died.

Ernest takes a job in Rome and decides to invite Hadley to go with him. Both of them are eager for the trip, but they’re warned that it’s too soon for them to get married. However, Ernest and Hadley decide not to listen to their friends’ advice and quickly marry each other after only knowing each other for a few months. Kate confesses her love for Ernest, who is now married to someone else. She realizes that she has no chance at having any kind of relationship with him anymore because he’s committed himself fully to his new wife, so she begins making amends with Hadley.

After the wedding, Hadley and Ernest move to Chicago. They frequently struggle with money because Ernest’s writing is rejected more often than it is accepted. He had served in WWI, and his PTSD from driving an ambulance manifests as flashbacks and mood swings. A local writer recommends that he go to Paris where he meets Ezra Pound, James Joyce, and Gertrude Stein.

In 1921, Ernest and Hadley moved to Paris. Hadley was unhappy there because she missed her home and family. She spent most of her time with Dorothy Pound, but she still felt like an outsider around Ernest’s friends. However, over the next few years Ernest’s star continued to rise as he got more reporting jobs for foreign correspondents and they traveled through Europe together.

Hadley and Ernest Hemingway were a young couple who had trouble communicating with each other. Hadley lost all of his manuscripts, which put a strain on their relationship. Gertrude Stein helped smooth things over until they could go to Spain for the running of the bulls. They suffered through financial difficulties but then had a baby boy named Bumby, and everything started to look up again.

Hadley’s friend Kitty tells her that she will be leaving Paris. Hadley is upset, but Ernest refuses to take her home. He seems to resent the baby and Hadley because they cause him to lose focus from his career. He also pays attention to other women and loses touch with his old friends.

Hemingway begins to date a woman named Duff. She and Hemingway travel to Spain together, but Hadley decides not to leave Ernest because her family life is relatively comfortable. However, the situation becomes too much for Hadley and she returns to Paris early. Ernest follows shortly after finishing his novel.

However, Ernest and Hadley start spending less time together. Ernest is often away on business trips while Hadley spends her time with cosmopolitan friends from Paris. Ernest meets one of Hadley’s closest friends, Pauline, who he falls for. He starts a secret affair with her without telling anyone about it. Hadley finds out about the affair and she gets very upset because she feels betrayed by both of them. Pauline convinces Ernest to leave his wife for her but he doesn’t want to do that so instead he goes into deep depression over the whole situation