Hemingway's Passions

Hemingway’s passion was writing—he was inspired by a lifetime of daring adventures and encouraged by the many women in his life. He nurtured his creativity by purposely seeking dangerous situations to test his own levels of courage and to create literary heroes that displayed grace under pressure. His masculine, adventurous spirit appealed to women of all ages, including his four wives and a long list of legendary actresses, and he frequently transformed the women in his life into memorable fictional characters.

In 1950, Hemingway told Marlene Dietrich that he truly loved only five women. Who were these five women and why did he love them? In Hemingway’s Passions, Hemingway scholar Nancy Sindelar answers these questions. Through quotations from his works and personal letters, as well as fifty photographs—many of which have not been previously published—she captures Hemingway’s life and romantic adventures, revealing his own feelings about his romantic relationships and the ways his experiences with these women appear in his literary works.

Much has been written about Hemingway, but to date no book has linked the women he loved to his written work. The stories of Hemingway’s romantic relationships reveal not only the influence these women had on his writing, but also his personal ambition, heartbreak, and literary triumphs and trials. Sindelar’s provocative analyses of Hemingway’s literature give fresh insight into the life of a legendary author, outdoorsman, adventurer, and lover.