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Paula McLain
Paula McLain was born in Fresno, California in 1965. After being abandoned by both parents, she and her two sisters became wards of the California Court System, moving in and out of various foster homes for the next fourteen years. When she aged out of the system, she supported herself by working... show more

Paula McLain was born in Fresno, California in 1965. After being abandoned by both parents, she and her two sisters became wards of the California Court System, moving in and out of various foster homes for the next fourteen years. When she aged out of the system, she supported herself by working as a nurses aid in a convalescent hospital, a pizza delivery girl, an auto-plant worker, a cocktail waitress--before discovering she could (and very much wanted to) write. She received her MFA in poetry from the University of Michigan in 1996. Since then, she has received fellowships from the corporation of Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, the Ucross Foundation, the Ohio Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. Her first book of poetry, Less of Her, was published in 1999 from New Issues Press and won a publication grant from the Greenwall Fund of the Academy of American Poets. She's also the author of a second collection of poetry, Stumble, Gorgeous, a memoir, Like Family: Growing Up In Other People's Houses, and the novel, A Ticket to Ride. Her most recent book is The Paris Wife, a fictional account of Ernest Hemingway's first marriage and upstart years in 1920's Paris, as told from the point of view of his wife, Hadley. She lives with her family in Cleveland.
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Blah, Blah, Blah, Book Blog
Blah, Blah, Blah, Book Blog rated it 5 years ago
I don’t think Paula McLain can stop herself from writing about Hemingway. Seriously, when she spoke at our library author lunch, I’m pretty sure she admitted to being a teensy bit obsessed with him. Thankfully, this time around Hemingway’s mystique is completely eclipsed by the powerhouse journalist...
My Never Ending List
My Never Ending List rated it 6 years ago
I knew nothing about Martha (Marty) Gellhorn before I started reading this novel but I learned a great deal about her and her marriage to Ernest Hemingway. With great detail about the time period surrounding WWII, Marty wanted to make her mark in the world as a writer and she would stop at nothing t...
Thewanderingjew
Thewanderingjew rated it 6 years ago
Love and Ruin, Paula McLain, author, January LaVoy, narrator I have enjoyed reading the author’s previous books, but this one left me a bit cold. I did like it, but only as a beach read, or perhaps chick lit, which I do not prefer. This novel is billed as historic fiction, but it grows more into a r...
debbiekrenzer
debbiekrenzer rated it 7 years ago
While I've never read a Hemingway book, I've always heard that he drank a lot and could be a hard man to get along with. I have seen his house in Key West and saw some of the bars he supposedly hung out in. I was rather taken back in the size of his house there. However, after reading this book, it ...
Blah, Blah, Blah, Book Blog
Blah, Blah, Blah, Book Blog rated it 8 years ago
I am lucky to live in a town with an amazing public library. Even more wonderful is the fact that each year our library hosts a luncheon that features a well-known, talented writer. This year, we met Paula McLain. I was already a fan. Having read one of her previous novels, The Paris Wife, I eagerly...
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