How do you think her relationship with her father shapes the ones she develops with men?

Gellhorn has a complicated relationship with her father, she’s always seeking his approval that she never quite obtains.Why do you think Gellhorn urge is to ‘always be on the move’? When we meet Gellhorn in chapter one, she tell us that she’s a born traveler and that by age twenty-six, she’s seen most of Europe.Why do you think McLain decided to start with that moment in time for the start of the book?

The book starts with a prologue with disturbing details about the start of the Spanish Civil War on July 13, 1936.

For those who also have read The Paris Wife, which one do you like better? Why? How is Gellhorn different from Hadley Richardson?.

Prior to reading Love and Ruin, what did you know about Martha Gellhorn?.

So in other words, if you were expecting only a love story, this was not the case, which in my opinion, made the story stronger. Without that vivid, horrid war imagery, Gellhorn’s motivation for staying and reporting in war conflicts might have been a bit more blurred. One reason this is impactful to Gellhorn’s ambition is that she gets the courage to write about what she sees during the Spanish Civil War because she realizes she can give a voice to those who don’t have one. McLain did not shy away from describing the different war conflicts. While ‘love’ is in the title and there is love at the start between Gellhorn and Hemingway, there’s plenty of war details as well. I’ve almost wish I drew out the story longer but once I began, I had to finish it. I read the entire book on a plane ride from Phoenix to Orlando. Paula McLain knows how to write women very well and she is now officially one of my favorite authors.

Love and ruin by paula mclain