Love and Ruin - Softcover

"In this heart-tugging follow-up [to The Paris Wife], we meet Martha Gellhorn, a correspondent during the Spanish Civil War, who was the third--and perhaps most intriguing--of [Hemingway's] wives. The title says it all."--People

"Propulsive . . . highly engaging . . . McLain does an excellent job portraying a woman with dreams who isn't afraid to make them real, showing [Gellhorn's] bravery in what was very much a man's world. Her work around the world . . . is presented in meticulous, hair-raising passages. . . . The book is fueled by her questing spirit, which asks, Why must a woman decide between being a war correspondent and a wife in her husband's bed?"--The New York Times Book Review

"[The] scenes of professional rivalry and seesawing imbalance are some of McLain's best. . . . McLain's legions of fans will relish the inspiration of a gutsy woman who discovers she doesn't need a man at her side, after all."--The Boston Globe

"McLain successfully turns Martha's story into a romantic quest and Martha into a romantic heroine--though not a traditional one."--The Washington Post

"Romance, infidelity, war--Paula McLain's powerhouse novel has it all."--Glamour

"If you loved McLain's 2011 blockbuster The Paris Wife, you're sure to adore her new novel, which is just as good, if not better."--AARP

"McLain's strengths as a novelist are formidable, especially her ability to evoke a strong sense of time and place. . . . This novel is important not only as historical fiction but also as a reminder of the challenges that faced career-minded women such as Gellhorn in the mid-twentieth century. . . . McLain is also a master at ending chapters that make you want to turn the page and see what happens next."--Houston Chronicle

"If love and war are two of the greatest themes in literature, they're both here. . . . McLain's dialogue, is, as Hem might say, good and true. She captures the passion Gellhorn and Hemingway feel for each other, and the slow erosion of trust on both sides."--USA Today

"McLain takes another successful trip into historical fiction. . . . Readers will have to remind themselves that this is fiction as McLain draws a finely detailed portrait of the chaos and destruction spreading across Spain."--St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Engrossing . . . [Love and Ruin] spotlights a woman ahead of her time--a fearless reporter who covered the major conflicts of the twentieth century."--Real Simple

"McLain's ability to base a work of fiction on real people is nothing short of superb."--BookPage

"Wonderfully evocative . . . This is historical fiction at its best, and today's female readers will be encouraged by Martha, who refuses to be silenced or limited in a time that was harshly repressive for women."--Library Journal (starred review)

Paula McLain's new novel, Love & Ruin, recounts Martha Gellhorn's stormy marriage to Ernest Hemingway, and her painful decision to step out of his shadow and forge her own brilliant career as a war correspondent.