Book Review -Hemingway's Girl by Erika Robuck

Hemingway's Girl by Erika Robuck
Publisher - Deckle Edge
Publish Date - 9/4/2012
Genre - Biographical Fiction
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My Rating:

This was one of the books that I brought with me on our vacation to the Dominican last month. I figured it would be the perfect mix of one of my favorite (but sometimes heavy) authors and a light, easy beach read. I was right. This book was the perfect pair to sunshine, sand and some frozen cocktails. 

Hemingway’s Girl takes place during the Depression in Key West, Florida. The novel follows the story of Mariella who comes from a mixed Cuban-American family. After her father’s passing, Mariella’s mother has a difficult time coping so supporting the family falls onto Mariella’s shoulders. When she gambles her wages on a boxing match, she attracts the attention of two men – Ernest Hemingway, famed author and Gavin Murray, a WWII veteran.

Mariella is hired as the Hemingway’s housekeeper which keeps her in dangerous proximity to the egotistical and flirtatious Ernest Hemingway. His charm and easy demeanor quickly draws Mariella
in to the luxurious lifestyle that having the attentions of someone of his caliber offered her. Gavin tries to keep Mariella grounded in her roots and tries to help make her dream of owning a fishing expedition boat come true. When the horrible 1935 Labor Day Hurricane rips across the Florida coast, Mariella is at risk of losing everything she loves.

I love Hemingway and his novels so, when this one caught my eye in the bookstore, I was eager to read about Hemingway from someone else’s perspective. It was a lot of fun watching Hemingway’s larger than life, yet troubled personality, come to life in this story. Mariella was a perfect character companion to Hemingway’s charms. She is a feisty, driven individual who is completely relatable on a human level. Her humble and relatively poor background created a great dichotomy with Hemingway’s luxury lifestyle.

The entire setting of this novel was captivating and the plot kept me engaged the entire way through. It was easy to picture this small coastal town. The author’s prose is easy and comfortable and you are drawn in before you even realize it.

I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in the epilogue. It seemed like excess and was full of rushed details that I could have done without. I tend to prefer stories that end without everything tied up in a pretty bow so that my imagination can decide what happened to the characters. Still, overall this book was very enjoyable and I absolutely recommend reading it.

PAIR THIS WITH – Pippin Hill Rosé

When sipping on wine with this novel, you want something light and easy to match up with the book’s refreshing story line. Pippin Hill’s Rosé is light and fruity with aromatics of strawberries and raspberries with hints of honeysuckle. This one will go down nice and easy!