Paula McLainKirja-arvosteluja

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS
(Print: 7/28/2015; 978-0345534187; Ballantine Books; 1st edition; 384 pages )
(Digital: Yes.)
Audio: 7/28/2015; 9780307989932; Penguin Random House Audio Publishing; Duration 12:05:38 (10 parts); Unabridged.
(Film: No).

SERIES:
No

CHARACTERS: (Not comprehensive)
Beryl Clutterbuck (Markham) – Protagonist whose life we follow
Charles Clutterbuck – Beryl’s father
Clara Agnes (Alexander) Cluterbuck – Beryl’s mother
Jock Purves – Beryl’s 1st husband
Denys Finch Hatton – A love interest of Beryl’s as well as of Karen’s
Karen Blixen – A friend Beryl makes in her early 20’s in Africa (and author of “Out of Africa”.
Mansfield Markham – Beryl’s 2nd husband
Gervase Markham – Son with Mansfield

DEDICATION:
“For my family—with love and thanks for unending—and for Letti Ann Christoffersen who was my Lady D”

SUMMARY/ EVALUATION:
I can’t recall my inspiration for reading this. It’s possible I saw the cover and was intrigued, or that I had noticed it was by the author of “The Paris Wife” which I have not read, but it’s on my list.
This book is historical fiction—it is peopled by authentic personages, but the conversations and incidences come from the author’s imagination. I loved the writing, the location, and the strength of Beryl’s character.

AUTHOR:
Paula McLain 1965. According to Wikipedia, Paula “is an American author best known for her novel, The Paris Wife, a fictionalized account of Ernest Hemingway's first marriage[1] which became a long-time New York Times bestseller.[2] She has published two collections of poetry, a memoir about growing up in the foster system, and the novel A Ticket to Ride.”
NARRATOR(S): Katharine Lee McEwan. According to Wikipedia, Katharine “is an English actress, screenwriter, and film producer. She gained recognition in 2015 with the award-winning independent feature film Solitary, which she wrote and produced in addition to playing the lead role.”
At the end of this book was when I learned that the people actually existed and that the main character, Beryl, had actually written a memoir called West with the Night. I’ve begun listening to it, and instantly I missed Kathleen’s voice. She lends class and gentility to these characters.

GENRE:
Historical fiction, Literature

LOCATIONS:
Colonial British East Africa - Njoro, Kenya, Nairobi, Ngong Hills, London

TIME FRAME:
1904 - 1936

SUBJECTS:
Africa, horse training, romance, independence, African tribes, society, convention, willfulness’, marriage, piloting, Gull airplane, royalty, women’s roles

NARRATIVE STYLE:
1st Person

SAMPLE QUOTATION:
From Chapter Part One

Chapter 1:
“Before Kenya was Kenya, when it was millions of years old and yet still somehow new, the name belonged only to our most magnificent mountain. You could see it from our farm in Njoro, in the British East African Portectorate—hard edged at the far end of a stretching golden plain, its crown glazed with ice that never completely melted. Behind us, the Mau Forest was blue with strings of mist. Before us, the Rongai Valley sloped down and away, bordered on one side by the strange, high Menengai Crater, which the natives called the Mountain of God, and on the other by the distant Aberdare Range, rounded blue-grey hills that went smoky and purple at dusk before dissolving into the night sky.
When we first arrived, in 1904, the farm wasn’t anything but fifteen hundred acres of untouched bush and three weather-beaten huts.
‘This?’ my mother said, the air around her humming and shimmering as if it were alive, ‘You sold everything for this?’
‘Other farmers are making a go of it in tougher places, Clara,’ my father said.
‘You’re not a farmer, Charles!’ she spat before bursting into tears.”

RATING:
5 stars. Wonderfully written.

STARTED-FINISHED
5/19/21 – 5/30/21

In “ Live and Ruin” I found it difficult to like either Martha Gelhorn or Ernest Hemingway . They both came across as self centered, egotistical, and childish. It came as no surprise their marriage was doomed. The risks Marty took as a war correspondent seemed selfish in this novel. As she was an actual person I don’t know what her life was really like but in this book I didn’t really like Martha.

The Paris Wife is the story of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife, Hadley. They lived in Paris for most of their marriage. They were friends with many of the writers who were popular in the 1920's. Even though it is fiction the author chose to stay true to events of their lives during their marriage. For most of their time together Ernest was an unknown. He was trying to sell his first book. They lived rather simply and traveled to much of Europe. If you are interested in the Jazz Age and the writers of the 20's this would be an enjoyable read.½

Good book but the woman's flying story doesn't even come up until the last few chapters. It feels like the author wrote a book that was twice as long and the editor chopped out the last half, and then slapped the last two chapters at the end.

Anna Hart is a detective who has returned to Mendocino, CA after a family tragedy. She had grown up there with her foster parents. Soon after she arrives back in town, a young girl is reported missing. It brings back memories of the unsolved murder of a childhood friend of Anna’s. One of her other childhood friends, Will, is now the sheriff and he enlists Anna’s help in trying to solve this case.
The kidnapping takes place in 1993 and brings in the real-life abduction of Polly Klaas. The story flip-flops between 1993, Anna’s early childhood before living with her foster parents and also her time with her foster parents and what her foster father taught her about hiking in the woods.
Will and Anna had to utilize good, old-fashioned detective skills…this was before the advanced forensics currently utilized. It was a slow burn to start but overall a good read; however, it is a difficult topic – the abduction and assault of children.

Crime

Remarkable story based on real person, Beryl Markham?s life as a feminist in Africa. KIRKUS REVIEWA full-throttle dive into the psyche and romantic attachments of Beryl Markham�whose 1936 solo flight across the Atlantic in a two-seater prop plane (carrying emergency fuel in the extra seat) transfixed the world.As conceived in this second historical by novelist McLain (The Paris Wife, 2011, etc.), Markham¥nee Beryl Clutterbuck¥is the neglected daughter of an impecunious racehorse trainer who fails to make a go at farming in British East Africa and a feckless, squeamish mother who bolts back to England with their older son. Set on her own two feet early, she is barely schooled but precociously brave and wired for physical challenges¥a trait honed by her childhood companion Kibii (a lifelong friend and son of a local chief). In the Mau forest¥?before Kenya was Kenya?¥she finds a ?heaven fitted exactly to me.? Keeping poised around large mammals (a leopard and a lion also figure significantly) is in her blood and later gains her credibility at the racecourse in Nairobi, where she becomes the youngest trainer ever licensed. Statuesque, blonde, and carrying an air of self-sufficiency¥she marries, disastrously, at 16 but is granted a separation to train Lord Delamere?s bloodstock¥Beryl turns heads among the cheerfully doped and dissolute Muthaiga Club set (?I don?t know what it is about Africa, but champagne is absolutely compulsory here?), charms not one but two heirs to the British crown at Baroness Karen Blixen?s soiree, and sets her cap on Blixen?s lover, Denys Fitch Hatton. She?ll have him, too, and much enjoyment derives from guessing how that script, and other intrigues, will play out in McLain?s retelling. Fittingly, McLain has Markham tell her story from an altitude of 1,800 feet: ?I?m meant to do this,? she begins, ?stitch my name on the sky.? Popularly regarded as ?a kind of Circe? (to quote Isak Dinesen biographer Judith Thurman), the young woman McLain explores owns her mistakes (at least privately) and is more boxed in by class, gender assumptions, and self-doubt than her reputation as aviatrix, big game hunter, and femme fatale suggests.Ernest Hemingway, who met Markham on safari two years before her Atlantic crossing, tagged her as ?a high-grade bitch? but proclaimed her 1942 memoir West with the Night ?bloody wonderful.? Readers might even say the same of McLain?s sparkling prose and sympathetic reimagining.

Loved this book! It's one of my favorite historical time periods and I LOVE the Lost Generation. Definitely recommend!

Through the eyes of Hadley Richardson, Hemmingway's first wife, McLean gives the reader a look into jazz age Paris prior to WWI, its cafe society, and some of the anarchists and American ex-pats who were a part of that scene.

Heavy Read but Good


This story expresses the point of view of Anna Hart who is a seasoned missing person detective in San Francisco with far too much knowledge of the darkest side of human nature. When tragedy strikes her personal life, Anna, desperate and numb, flees to the Northern California village of Mendocino to grieve. She lived there as a child with her beloved foster parents, and now she believes it might be the only place left for her. Yet the day she arrives, she learns that a local teenage girl has gone missing.

The crime is scarily similar to a crime that occurred during a pivotal time in Anna’s childhood. The unsolved murder of a young girl touched the town and changed the people who lived there forever. When past and present collide, Anna realizes she was brought back to her hometown for a reason and that her upbringing and life experience gives her insight into how the victims are selected and how they come in contact with this killer. As Anna becomes consumed with the history and needs to save these girls, she must come to terms with the fact that to help others she might need to help herself by letting others in.



Intertwining together actual cases of missing persons, trauma theory, and a hint of the metaphysical, this propelling and deeply affecting novel tells a story of fate, necessary redemption, and what it takes, when the worst happens, to reclaim our lives and come to terms with the fact that we are not meant to live life alone.

What I enjoyed with this novel is that when it begins we are immediately caught up in whatever Anna is running from. You can feel that she is running from love and heartbreak and all this information is given to the reader in little pieces. I enjoyed meeting characters from her past and her time in the system and how the author used that as a way to connect her to the victims she is trying to save. What was also well done was the cast of supporting characters in the town. What I love most and why this is such a high-rated four- star read for me is the fact that the author blends Anna’s past and present so beautifully that by the end of the book I feel like the character comes out as a whole person. The transition is beautiful and shows how having community and faith in yourself is important to make an impact in helping others.

I enjoyed this book very much. I found myself engaged and drawn into the well developed characters immediately. While it is filled with sadness and tragic lives, it also offers hope and redemption. The ending was a bit of a surprise, but closed up the story nicely. The backstory of Cameron's young life added another dimension.

Very enjoyable fictionalized account of Beryl Markham. Now to re-read West With the Night!

Oh my gosh, this book is now on my list of highly recommended reading for anyone who has gone through trauma in their life (and for those who haven't, it's still a fabulous book!)
The author does a great job of fleshing out each character, her words descriptive, emotional, haunting. And the story doesn't take the easy way out in "solving" plot situations.
I felt like I was there alongside Anna (a missing person's detective) as she walks through the woods, along the beach cliffs, into a home where she isn't welcomed. The story digs deep into what molds us, how our childhood and past coat layers of how we will view life, what decisions we will make, who we will trust, and how we view ourselves. I highly recommend this story and thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this well-told story.

I probably finished this a few weeks ago, had to set it aside for library books to read. It was very good, I knew very little about Ernest H's life. Although fiction, it still gave a good glimpse into their lifestyle and relationships, which I found interesting, and also depressing.

Annie’s a detective who find missing kids. This has cut into her family time and she has left (at least for now) and headed back to where she grew up with her adoptive parents. When she was younger, a teenager – a couple of years older than Annie – went missing. Now, another teen girl is missing. One of Annie’s childhood friends is heading the investigation and Annie can’t help but get involved to try to help. The girl missing now, Cameron, is the (adopted) daughter of a famous actress, and so far, they’ve been looking without too much fanfare, as Cameron’s parents didn’t want to go to the media with it.

The book goes back and forth in time between the current-day search for Cameron and Annie’s childhood (both her childhood in general (pre- and post-adoption), and the search for the missing girl, Jenny). I listened to the audio book.

I really liked this. I will admit that there were multiple times where I missed who someone was, so it took me a bit of time to figure it out (and I even backed up to the start of the book to catch things I thought I might have missed – I almost never do that, but I was interested enough in what was going on, I wanted to find out). One thing I did like with the audio is that the narrator made it easy to tell which time frame we were in, just by the voice she used for a younger Annie, so I thought that was done well.

There was a short author’s note at the end, so it was interesting to find out one of the missing girls in the book (not either of the two mentioned in my summary) was a real person! And I liked that she decided to set the book pre-internet, pre-cell phone, as well (also talked about in the author’s note).

I want to read Hemingway again!

This wasn't the book for me. If you're hoping to read about Beryl Markham's flying career, look elsewhere. If you want to read about her tempestuous love life, this is the book for you.

‘Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know’
Ernest Hemingway

Hadley Richardson is the Paris wife of Ernest Hemingway. She is his first wife and they lived mostly in Paris during 1920s.
Paris in 1920s is the center of literary world, when the so-called Lost Generation shows its apex.
‘We could walk into any cafe` and feel the wonderful chaos of it, ordering Pernod or Rhum St. James until we were beautifully blurred and happy to be there together.’ (page xi)

Paula McLain writes an absorbing book from Hadley’s point of view, with some insertions from Hemingway’s thoughts (in italic characters).

The couple struggles to survive with no money, and especially Hemingway’s will to become a writer.
Just after their marriage, Hadley’s doubts about her ‘collocation’ in Hemingway’s life is increasing.
‘I wasn’t at all convinced I was special, as Ernest was. He lived inside the creative sphere and I lived outside, and I didn’t know if anything would ever change that.’ (page 107)
Actually Hemingway was one of the few writers to whom life is a link for books, and the contrary; the stories come to Hemingway from real life, and he lives his real life always on the border between life and death, where life shows its power. At the beginning of Hemingway’s career, when he is with Hadley, that objective is very far but Hemingway already knows it.

McLain, almost until the first Hadley and Hemingway’s journey in Spain, shows respect and fear, writing about Hemingway. That could be McLain’s choice of Hadley as a weak character, but the reader’s feeling are different: it seems mostly McLain’s fear to write, although indirectly, about Hemingway.
The Paris Wife improves when Hadley and Hemingway life changes with the first books’ success, although it means a change also in the marriage: ‘It was the end of Ernest’s struggle with apprenticeship, and an end to other things as well. He would never again be unknown. We would never again be this happy. The next day we boarded a train back to Paris.’ (page 195)

I recommend this book to Hemingway’s fans: it’s better than a biography, although less ‘feral’, vitalistic, than Hemingway’s books.

PAULA MCLAIN was born in Fresno, CA in 1965.
She received her MFA in poetry from the University of Michigan in 1996, and since then has been a resident at Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony (a community of artists where they can work in peaceful surrounding, some notable names: Leonard Bernstein, Jonathan Franzen, Alice Sebold, etc.).
She is the author of two collections of poetry, a memoir Like Family (Little Brown, 2003), and one previous novel, A Ticket to Ride.
Paula McLain lives in Cleveland, OH with her family.

I listened to this audiobook short in honor of women's history month. As a female chemist myself, I have always had a warm place in my heart for Marie Curie. This brief biographical account of her early time at the Sorbonne was fairly well done though it was a bit too focused on the relationship between Marie and Pierre.

Another beautifully written historical novel by Paula McLain. While Beryl Markham's life was filled with ups and downs, and complicated relationships with men ( in and out of marriage) McLain brings this adventerous spirit, and 1920s Kenya to life. While some would argue McLain could've inserted more historical details, scenes to peel back the layer of British colonialism, remind readers -at least!- that this was a land teeming with life, & tribes of native born peoples long before the British arrived. Her childhood friend, Kiibi, boy to a nearby tribal village, eventually grows up - withdrawing from her world- as he must, but returns long after they are both in adulthood, to "help" her with her endeavors: first to establish her own horse ranch/racing stock, and then as she pursues airplane flying. It was a moving friendship, but one that McLain doesn't even let Beryl be uncomfortable about... but she ran w/that set of colonial settlers & "the rich & idle" who saw the world, no matter how wild or far from London, as their domain. Nevertheless, it was compulsively readable.

4.5* Biographical fiction about Beryl Markham and her life in Kenya in the early part of the 1900’s. Really enjoyed this, and now want to read some non fiction about this amazing woman.

This book was very well written, I just did not care for the characters Ernest Hemingway and his first wife Hadley.

Anna Hart is a detective who specializes in finding lost kids. Sometimes, she rescues them in time, sometimes she is too late. But she always wants justice for them. Now, she is facing demons of her own. A tragedy in her own life has her reeling, and has sent her back to hometown. There, she connects with some old friends, and becomes enmeshed in a missing girl’s case. With echoes into the past, Anna must deal with kidnappings and murder. Trying to cope with her own loss, she is compelled to do all she can save others. She must decide whom she can trust, and if her old friends are really the people she thought them to be. Putting together the clues isn’t easy, and neither is the life she has chosen. The author does a wonderful job of writing a mystery that explores several issues, including child abuse, kidnapping, abandonment, accidental death, alcohol abuse, and divorce. She also writes a gripping thriller, incorporating the real life case of a child’s kidnapping in the story. The characters of Anna and of the small-town sheriff, Will, are quite interesting, and while this is a stand-alone, it would be nice to see these two characters connect again in a future story.

Loved it!

This work of historical fiction is narrated (primarily) by Ernest Hemingway's wife, Hadley. Through her eyes, we get to see a famous author emerge whilst living and writing in Paris.

There is a realism about this novel that I found to be very compelling. The characters are so well portrayed, and you find it very easy to both love and hate them at the same time! It's really a simple story of a marriage and of an artist, but it's just done so well. I found it very hard to put aside.

I'd especially recommend this book for those who enjoyed "Loving Frank". I also think it has more appeal for people who are already married or at least have truly been in deeply love . . .I think to grasp how well the author has done with this subject matter it is helpful to have experienced marriage oneself.

Complicated, gritty, tense but one of my favorites so far this year.
But, why the mastitis in the beginning? Anna was a workaholic and her daughter was 2 1/2.