「我多希望在還只愛她一個人的時候就死去。」
海明威口中這個「她」的故事
獻給所有義無反顧為愛燃燒的世間女子
◎亞馬遜網路書店2011年最佳圖書百大榜
◎在美國上市立即登上《紐約時報》排行榜第九名、美國獨立書商協會暢銷榜冠軍、亞馬遜網路書店及邦諾網路書店暢銷書。
◎全美銷售超過60萬冊(含電子書),銷售31國版權。
你或許知道,巴黎所賦予海明威的靈感成就了《旭日依舊東升》這部小說,海明威在日後更有散文集《流動的饗宴》回溯這段難以忘懷的巴黎歲月。但你恐怕不知道,這兩本書都遺忘了一位在海明威生命中留下深刻刻痕的女子,她,是海明威的巴黎妻子,是海明威最初的愛戀,是時移事往無數年後,海明威在自殺前仍想說上最後一次話的對象。
海德莉,一個過著幽閉生活的二十八歲女子,像個老處女般寄居在姊姊家,看著昔日同儕或結婚成家,或謀職立業,過屬於她們的日子,做自己的事也犯自己的錯。而她卻活在童年意外與父親自殺的陰影之下,在家人的過度保護中寸步難行。渴望掙脫,卻無一技之長可賴以脫離困局。腳上沒有纏足,卻走不出家門去。
這樣的一名女子,遇上了日後將在美國文學史上占有一席之地的海明威。這個當時還沒沒無聞、一樣活在父親自殺陰影之下的年輕窮小子,讓海德莉向來蒼白的人生幻化出炫目的色彩。愛情把海德莉的腳步帶往新的城市,婚姻則把她帶往全然陌生的國度。
海德莉跟隨懷抱著文學大志的海明威前往文人薈萃的巴黎,陪著他四處投石問路,與葛楚.史坦、艾茲拉.龐德、費滋傑羅等日後無不成為經典大師的人物相交甚篤,並成為當時風起雲湧的藝文團體裡的黃金佳偶。
在放恣不羈的巴黎氣息中,在才子佳人環繞、文人墨客相互較勁的環境裡,海明威努力尋找讓自己名留青史的聲音。他將自己和海德莉及一群朋友豐富而狂烈的生活寫進小說裡,成就了《旭日依舊東升》,之後更有散文集《流動的饗宴》回溯這段巴黎歲月。然而,隨著機會一個個到來、名氣日漸水漲船高,海明威對一眾文壇好友,甚至是對海德莉這位糟糠之妻,逐漸有了不同的眼光和態度。海德莉身為妻子的角色也變得更具挑戰性,但義無反顧的她仍努力地忠於這份刻骨銘心的愛情。她深切地意識到,巴黎成就了他的事業,卻彷彿要奪走她的愛情。到頭來,他們終究還是面臨了一場會讓他們的奮鬥目標徹底崩解的危機。
在海德莉的故事中,你將讀到世紀文豪海明威不為人知的面向,更將與海德莉一同經歷愛情裡的疑懼、擺盪、背叛。這是一個平凡女子的人生淬鍊與激烈蛻變,更是翻遍文學史也讀不到的哀婉篇章。
A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.
Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness — until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group — the fabled “Lost Generation” — that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.
Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking and fast-living life of Jazz Age Paris, which hardly values traditional notions of family and monogamy. Surrounded by beautiful women and competing egos, Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history, pouring all the richness and intensity of his life with Hadley and their circle of friends into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises. Hadley, meanwhile, strives to hold on to her sense of self as the demands of life with Ernest grow costly and her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Despite their extraordinary bond, they eventually find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage — a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.
A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.
★本書中譯版《我是海明威的巴黎妻子》由麥田出版。
作者簡介
寶拉.麥克蓮Paula McLain
美國密西根大學詩學碩士,曾榮獲雅斗(Yaddo)文藝社區、麥克道威爾文藝營(MacDowell Colony)、美國國家藝術基金會(National Endowment for the Arts)等各大獎學金。著有兩本詩集、回憶錄《Like Family: Growing Up in Other People’s House》、小說《A Ticket to Ride》。
Paula McLain received her M.F.A. in poetry from the University of Michigan and has been awarded fellowships from Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony, and the National Endowment for the Arts. She is the author of two collections of poetry; a memoir, Like Family: Growing Up in Other People’s Houses; and a first novel, A Ticket to Ride. She lives in Cleveland with her family.