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    Hemingway's Girl
    Hemingway's Girl
    Hemingway's Girl
    Audiobook9 hours

    Hemingway's Girl

    Written by Erika Robuck

    Narrated by Tavia Gilbert

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    "She remembered when Hemingway had planted a banyan tree at his house and told her its parasitic roots were like human desire. At the time she'd thought it romantic. She hadn't understood his warning."

    In Depression-era Key West, Mariella Bennet, the daughter of an American fisherman and a Cuban woman, knows hunger. Her struggle to support her family following her father's death leads her to a bar and bordello, where she bets on a risky boxing match . . . and attracts the interest of two men: world-famous writer Ernest Hemingway, and Gavin Murray, one of the World War I veterans who are laboring to build the Overseas Highway.

    When Mariella is hired as a maid by Hemingway's second wife, Pauline, she enters a rarified world of lavish, celebrity-filled dinner parties and elaborate off-island excursions. As she becomes caught up in the tensions and excesses of the Hemingway household, the attentions of the larger-than-life writer become a dangerous temptation . . . even as straightforward Gavin Murray draws her back to what matters most. Will she cross an invisible line with the volatile Hemingway, or find a way to claim her own dreams? As a massive hurricane bears down on Key West, Mariella faces some harsh truths . . . and the possibility of losing everything she loves.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateMar 25, 2013
    ISBN9781452682068
    Hemingway's Girl

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    Reviews for Hemingway's Girl

    4/5

    73 ratings14 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Two of my favs Hemingway and the keys so I can't go wrong. I am fascinated with the man, the myth, the writer as is our heroine Mariella. Taking place in Key West 1935 the year of the labor day hurricane which devestated much of the upper keys. The hurricane is a tidy analogy for Hem. Enjoyable read.
    • 4/5
      Depression-era Key West, finds 19 yr old Mariella Bennet struggling to support her family.E Hemingway takes note, Pauline hires her and she enters the Hemingway household as a maid.The story continues as she enters the frenetic household of Papa Hemingway.
    • 5/5
      This is what good historical fiction does -- it uses documented events to expand a story leaving the reader longing to learn more. Beginning with the year 1961 the main character Mariella Bennet, is emotionally rent when she learns that Ernest Hemingway has committed suicide by firing a gun into his mouth. Years ago, she was 19 and she had a strong friendship with Ernest Hemingway that would have crossed the line into a sexual bond, had she allowed Hemingway, a married man, to fulfill his intentions toward her. She became an employee of Hemingway's emotionally charged wife Pauline.Mariella returned to the Florida Keys to show her son, Jack now 25, whose father had died of cancer, the life she lived there and to share her childhood and teen-aged memories.The book then shifts to the 1930's when Hemingway was at his macho best. This was a time when he held sway at the local bars, when his charisma charmed all who happened to be in his sphere. Boasting loudly of fishing and hunting stories, he was at his physical prime. No one could beat him in boxing or any attempt to outshine and hold court.A Cuban mother who dared to marry an American, her mother's family broke all ties when she disobeyed them. Her father was a fisherman who died, and after his death, Mariella family live in abject poverty , not unlike the majority of natives who inhabit the Florida Keys.To support her family Mariella takes a job with the Hemingways because her mother's grief does not allow her to live a life without her husband. Through Mariella, we see the traumatic life of Ernest and Pauline, and we are privy to the antics of the rich circle of friends. With all the petty jealousies, rivalries, drinking to the point of passing out night after night, Ernest tells Mariella he was happier when poor. Pauline's money has lured him to a life of misery. We see Ernest as the torn man he was. Underneath all the machismo, he is fearful that one day his physical mystic and daring bravado will end, and will leave him empty and alone. He is a man of myriad traits, one who can emotionally cut like a life, one who cares about none but himself, and he is a narcissistic man who lives only for his own needs. Hemingway is also savvy enough to relate to the poor of the Florida keys. But, as Mariella reminds him, only to use them as characters in his books. Through Mariella''s relationship with a man who cares deeply, we see her struggle between the pull toward Ernest, and the inner knowledge that Gavin will treat her so much better, and in addition, unlike Hemingway, has the ability to care deeply for others. It is through this character we learn of the terrible storm of the century, a hurricane that rips through the keys on Labor Day of 1935. The majority of those who died were the poor who lived there, and also found work when the U.S. government commissioned the building of a railroad. When the storm approached, the poor Vets (veterans) were left to die as the transportation promised never arrived. An intensely detailed book, it took longer than usual to read because of all the details and in-depth portrayal of Hemingway, his hedonism and the life style of the rich, as well as Mariella and those who lived in the keys and barely eked out a living.4.5 Stars!
    • 3/5
      I refuse to nitpick a book that is a NOVEL....not a bio. I WILL say that this book has piqued my interest to the point of looking into others written about Hemingways wives. ( Hadley and Pauline in particular)Well-written and engaging, this story follows the days of fishermans daughter Mariella, who becomes Pauline Hemingway's maid in the 30's. Flirtations, struggles to support her family, mourning the death of her father, she is a beautiful young woman who craves independence AND love. I looked forward to each chance i had to pick up this book.
    • 3/5
      3.5***

      In 1961, Mariella, a widow living on Key West with her 25-year-old son, is devastated by the news that Ernest Hemingway has died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Her memories of Papa take the reader back to the summer of 1935, when she was just 19 years old and went to work in the Hemingway household as a housekeeper. Mariella Bennet’s father died of an apparent heart attack two years previously, and her mother has sunk into a depression that leaves her unable to deal with requirements of a steady job or even of maintaining the family home and seeing to her children. As the oldest, Mariella takes on the responsibilities of bread-winner and parent for her younger sisters. The job with the Hemingways is a god-send because they pay better than any other position available to her. Soon she is witness to the drama of Hemingway’s marriage to second wife Pauline, and trying to sort out her own attraction to Papa in contrast to Gavin, the handsome WWI veteran who is working on a government project to build a road to the keys.

      Robuck does a good job of setting the scene of Depression-era Key West. Mariella, her family and neighbors struggle to feed and clothe themselves, dependent on rich tourists who frequently display racist attitudes towards “the natives.” The story also exposes the very real problems of returning veterans who witnessed horrific bloodshed at the Argonne, received little or no help for their “shell shock” (i.e. PTSD) and frequently turned to alcohol to numb their feelings of guilt and betrayal. The major crisis and turning point in the story is the Labor Day hurricane that devastated the keys and killed hundreds of veterans (and their families). They had been sent by the U.S. government to work on the road to connect the keys to the mainland, living in shanty towns or camps on low-lying islands. Robuck includes an actual essay by Hemingway, titled “Who Murdered the Vets?” which outlines the aftermath of the storm.

      I liked that Robuck chose to tell the story chiefly from Mariella’s viewpoint, which gives the reader a little relief from Hemingway’s bigger-than-life persona. But Papa is still vibrant and alive on these pages.
      It reminds me a little of the recent movie “My Week With Marilyn” – it is young Colin’s story, but all eyes are on Marilyn Monroe.

      All told, this is enjoyable historical fiction, and I would read another novel by Robuck.
    • 4/5
      Beautiful, rich, colorful, and captivating story about a young woman's encounter with Hemingway set in Key West. Robuck captured the setting so well I felt I was back there myself. I was thrilled with the way the relationship between the characters ended. This is the first of Robuck's books I've read and I've read them all since then. I highly anticipate her next book about Edna St. Vincent Millay.
    • 5/5
      This was an excellent book. The author had definitely done her homework before writing this historical fiction. The main character lived in Key West during Hemingway's time there and became a maid in his household. Pushed and Hemingway have an attraction for each other that leads them in many directions. Will she be able to resist this larger than life personality? The book takes several unexpected turns with romance and suspenseful moments scattered throughout. Definitely makes me want to read more of her books.
    • 4/5
      Erika Robuck is obviously a Hemingway scholar, and someone who genuinely loves Hemingway's work and is even willing to make allowances for many of the man's less-than-lovable foibles and faults - and he had plenty. HEMINGWAY'S GIRL is a work of historical fiction set in 1935 Key West that keeps you turning the pages, even though I would hesitantly classify it as "a woman's book." In her half-Cuban half-Anglo heroine Mariella Bennet, Robuck has created a feisty and believable character. Mari knows Hemingway's reputation with women and yet finds herself irresistibly drawn to the larger-than-life writer, and becomes a part of the Hemingway family's life in her role as a maid in their Key West home. There are fascinating bits of history threaded throughout the story, in which Mari falls in love with Gavin, a scarred veteran of the first war who is straw boss for a crew of hard-luck damaged veterans constructing the Keys Highway. Readers get an intimate look inside the lives of the rich and famous as the Hemingways' crowd includes the Dos Passoses, the Masons and the Murphys, among others. Mari is portrayed as a strong and independent twenty year-old who is holding together her family following the death of her fisherman father. A massive hurricane plays a key role in the exciting conclusion of this potboiler of a love story, and the only very small beef I might have with the book is a perhaps too-pat and predictable ending specially tailored, I suspect, for its women readers. (Hemingway himself would probably not have approved the ending.) My own long-held suspicions about Papa Hemingway - that he was something of a blustering bully and pompous jerk - were only confirmed by the events portrayed here. The fact remains, however, that HEMINGWAY'S GIRL is an extremely entertaining read which skillfully mixes fact and fiction. Kudos to Ms. Robuck. Recommended for Hemingway fans and history buffs alike.
    • 5/5
      As a bit of a Hemingway nut, I can report that this was a totally fun read and that author Erika Robuck stays as true as she possibly can to the various sources that she consulted to build fictional characterizations of Ernest Hemingway, Pauline Pfeiffer and their various family such as Ginnie Pfeiffer and the young Bumby, Patrick and Gregory Hemingway and friends such as John and Katy Dos Passos, Sara Murphy and others."Hemingway's Girl" is primarily set in the summer of 1935 in Key West, Florida at a time while Hemingway was writing "Green Hills of Africa" and the World War I "Bonus Army" veterans were building the Florida Keys Overseas Highway. The main fictional character is 19-year-old Mariella Bennett, of mixed American-Cuban parentage, who goes to work for the Hemingways as a housemaid at their Key West home and observes and participates in their lives. The other main fictional character is WW1 veteran Gavin Murray who, while working on the highway building, also visits Key West to earn side-money as a boxer. It is at one of these informal boxing matches that the characters interact with Hemingway for the first time and the story kicks off from there and hits all the right notes along the way to its dramatic two-fold finish, first with the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 and then with the well-known news of the morning on July 2, 1961.Robuck makes all the right touchstones and neatly leaves several of them unexpanded in a sort of nod and a wink to Hemingwayphiles. For instance, Hemingway's remark "Did I ever tell you how I became a Catholic?" is left unanswered, but is presumably based on the A.E. Hotchner story in "Papa Hemingway" about Hemingway praying for a return of his virility.I thoroughly enjoyed this and look forward to reading more of Robuck. I understand her next book is about Zelda Fitzgerald and I hope there is further "lost generation"-related fiction yet to come.
    • 4/5
      Good read about Hemingway who has always intrigued me. Really enjoyed the author's style and look forward to more from her.
    • 4/5
      Engaging fictional tale of the friendship between Hemingway and the girl hired as a housemaid. The relationships were believable. Easy to get caught up in their world and the emotional drama. I recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      I read The Old Man and the Sea many, many years ago in junior high. As my first introduction to Hemingway, it vaulted him onto my authors to search out list and I promptly scoured my parents' bookshelves for more of his works. I found The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms from my mother's school years (I still have them on my shelves to this day) and devoured them as well. I even taught the latter book to my classes when I was in grad school. But as much as I liked his fiction, I knew that his life had not been a particularly happy one, failed marriages, depression, writer's block, and ultimately suicide. Still, there's just something magnetic about the Hemingway legacy. And so the opportunity to read about a fictionalized bit of his time in Key West was terrifically appealing. Erika Robuck's novel Hemingway's Girl offers just that chance: to peek inside Hemingway's life in 1930's Key West through the eyes of a young Cuban-American woman who captures Papa's attention and comes to work as a maid for Hemingway and second wife Pauline. Opening in 1961 when, after a day of fishing with her son, Mariella Bennet learns of Ernest Hemingway's death, this novel moves from her deep seated sorrow at the news back in time to her reflections of the year when she was so close to the man. In 1935, Mariella is a young woman struggling to hold her family together after the unexpected death of her fisherman father. Her mother is suffering from extreme depression and grief and so it is up to Mariella to find the odd jobs that will help her mother and two younger sisters survive. The Depression is in full swing and Key West has been hit hard, making it difficult for Mariella to find enough work to not only feed her sisters but to pay for the doctor's visits her youngest sister, prone to fevers, needs so frequently. In addition to the small jobs she finds, Mariella occasionally finds her way to the local boxing matches, betting her tiny pay on the bouts in the hopes of increasing the amount. It is here that she first sees both Hemingway and boxer and WWI veteran Gavin Murray who is helping to supervise the building of the Overseas Highway nearby.Drawn to both men, Mariella accepts Hemingway's suggestion that she apply for work at his home. She meets Pauline and the rest of Hemingway's family, becoming intimately acquainted with the wealth and extravagance, the tension amongst their set of friends, and the just beneath the surface turmoil of the Hemingway family's life. Mariella acts as a sort of muse for Hemingway, who is both paternal towards her at the same time he's sending out a dangerous undercurrent of sexual attraction as well. And Mariella is attracted to Papa, despite knowing better and recognizing how foolhardy it is to invite Pauline's jealousy. At the same time, she is also pulled to the care and kindness she finds in Gavin and she embarks on the beginnings of a relationship with him. The two men don't like each other much, competing as they are for Mariella. As the year progresses, Mariella finds herself in the heart of the Hemingway family and witnessing the cracks in their marriage while she grows ever closer to Gavin, letting him into her own small family.Robuck has done a fantastic job evoking the Key West of the 1930's, the depressed economy; the clashes between the locals and the poor, damaged vets brought in the build the highway through the swamps and fetid conditions; and the male-dominated fishing, boxing, drinking culture of the time. Mariella as a main character is complex and realistic as she wrestles with which man is going to play the largest part in her life. And the way that the narrative tension coils tighter as the historically accurate Labor Day hurricane barrels directly towards the exposed Keys and the hundreds of vets working on the highway is well done. The beginning of the novel is rather slow though and it takes a bit of time to feel fully invested in the story and Mariella's life. The plot thread of her ill younger sister isn't quite developed enough to make its inclusion in the story completely understandable and the revelations about Mariella's father and her mother's relatives in Cuba aren't all that surprising. Overall though, Robuck has written an engaging tale about a young woman searching for a way to move closer to her dream. It's a tale of love, inspiration, kindness, and despair. And it offers the larger than life Hemingway in a way not seen before. Those who have appreciated his works or other fictionalizations about his life should take note because they'll certainly enjoy reading this one as well.
    • 5/5
      I don't know why I can't go 5 stars, I truly have to say this will be the best book I read in 2012. Made me so curious to reread and read more of Hemingway and the book was so detailed as to the Keys in the 30's, picked the book up and didn't want to put it down. Enjoy!
    • 5/5
      Key West was a place dear to my heart in the 1950s and up to about 1962. When I revisited in the 1970s, it was a different place. That's why I was anxious to read this story set in 1935 Key West when Hemingway was in residence and the overseas highway was under construction.The main character is Mariella Bennet whose Cuban mother was disowned by her family for marrying an American fisherman. As the story begins, Hal Bennet has died and Mariella's mother is so deep in grief that it is up to her three daughters to look after themselves. They are desperately poor so Mariella works odd jobs on the waterfront to feed her little sisters and her mother.Then she meets Hemingway and is hired as a maid in the home where he lives with his second wife, Pauline, and their children. The house is described in perfect detail, and the characterization of both Papa and Pauline are excellent. Papa and Mariella are drawn to each other and Pauline feels threatened; as Mariella struggles to avoid crossing any lines.Meanwhile, she has met a veteran of WW I, one of many who are working on the overseas highway. I knew there had been a terrible hurricane that killed many of those workers, and the scene in this book carried me away. It was the most powerful scene in the book.I don't want to give away any more of this excellent story, but just know that this is a wonderful read. I highly recommend this book whether you know Key West or not. The characters and settings will draw you in just as they did me. Source: Amazon Vine