Hemingways 12 year Marriage to Pauline Pfeiffer

Hadley had insisted that in order for Hemingway to gain a divorce from her, that Hemingway and Pauline Pfeiffer were to live apart for six months and if, after that time, they were still in love, she would give him a divorce.

During this six month period when Hemingway had neither Hadley or Pauline to comfort him, he felt both alone and guilty.

He wrote to Pauline of suicide. She was in America and he still in Paris to comply with Hadley's separation terms for a divorce. It was fall 1925 and Hemingway wrote to Pauline telling her it would be best for both of them if he died and went to hell.

He had written 'Another Country' during this period. The story tells of his physiotherapy in Italy. The central character was an Italian Major whose wounded right hand had turned into a claw and whose young wife has just died of pneumonia.

'Men without Women' was also being formed during 1925 and 1926.

His other two novels, The Torrents of Spring and The Sun Also Rises, were doing extremely well and Hemingway in a fit of guilt wrote a new will giving all the royalties of his books, present and future to his son, John Hadley, nicknamed Bumby.

On January 27th 1927 Hemingway was divorced from Hadley and on May 10th 1927 Hemingway married Pauline in a Catholic ceremony.

Pauline was a Catholic and Hemingway, it appeared had been baptised in the Catholic faith, nine years earlier by an Italian priest whilst he served as an ambulance driver.

Pauline's and Hemingway's three week honeymoon was spent at a small pension in Grau-du-Roi, a small fishing port in France. Sea, sun, fishing, swimming and writing occupied his time but he cut his foot badly which became infected with anthrax.

On his return to Paris in June after his honeymoon he spent ten days in bed with fever and nursing his swollen, infected foot.

Hemingway fell into a period of depression when he couldn't write, he was worried about his health and failing eyesight and he was trying to write a really good book about his experiences in the war. He was also desperate to leave Paris and to go back to America.

He and Pauline went to Key West, Florida. Pauline was pregnant and wanted, like Hadley to have her baby on American soil.

Hemingway fell in love with Key West calling it a paradise and quickly fell into a routine of fishing and writing, apart from the odd night on the town, drinking heavily, followed by what he called 'gastric remorse'. (Hangover and sickness).

He wrote early in the mornings when the day was still fresh and talked endlessly to anyone he met in Key West listening to their stories and interrogating them on their lives and backgrounds. He was a stickler for detailed information.

Hemingway was particularly friendly with a man called Bra Saunderson, a professional fishing guide and Josie Russell, the owner of a bar called Sloppy Joe's.

His closest friendship was with a man called Charles Thompson, both men shared a love of hunting and fishing.

Hemingway and Pauline were coming and going to Key West for some time until Pauline's uncle bought them 907 Whitehead Street in 1931.

Key West became their base but Hemingway, sometimes with Pauline continued taking trips to Europe.

In 1928 Hemingway's father died. He shot himself in the head.

He was suffering from diabetes and angina pectoris.

Hemingway was now head of another family, that of his mother's and her two small boys.

He had written 'A Farewell to Arms' which had become hugely successful, topping the bestsellers list which enabled Hemingway to send money to his mother, to help her difficult finances.

'Farewell to Arms' was dramatised in New York although it was unsuccesful in the theatre and closed after three weeks. However the novel was sold for $24,000 movie rights.

Pauline had her baby by caesarian section, it was another boy, although Hemingway wanted a girl. They called the baby Patrick, nicknamed Sunny.

Hemingway was always concerned about his health and he had reason to be. He easily fell prone to sore throats, kidney problems and hemorrhoids. He was also accident prone. He had broken his right arm in a car accident in 1930, cut his right eyeball, had a forehead gash, sliced his index finger, and a torn chin. He was also worried about his failing eyesight.

In 1931 Pauline had another baby, Gregory Hancock. Shortly after this 'Death in the Afternoon' was finished.

Hemingway was still writing and taking fishing expeditions to Havana with his friend Joe Russell, owner of Sloppy Joes.

His first 'Cuban' trip taught him the joys of marlin fishing but when he returned from a sixty-five day trip he once again suffered ill health, this time bronchial pneumonia.

'Winner Takes Nothing' was completed before Hemingway took a hunting trip to Africa to shoot lions.

He got dysentery and had a prolapse of the lower intestine. He and Pauline were away for seven months.

When he returned he started to write a book about his African safari called 'The Green Hills of Africa'.

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He took ownership of a cruiser, the Pilar. He spent months fishing with his friends on his boat, often leaving Pauline alone with their two boys.

In 1935 he had won his first fishing competition at Bimini in the British West Indies.

Foreigners were unpopular in Bimini and Hemingway's victory provoked a number of quarrels. He offered the fishermen $200 to the man who could stay in the boxing ring with him for four rounds. No-one won the money, Hemingway beat them all.

In 1936 Hemingway met the journalist, Martha Gelhorn and began an affair with her. They were both planning to go to the Spanish Civil War together.

In 1937 and 1938 he was in Spain with Martha, writing 'To Have and Have Not' and a play, 'The Fifth Column'. This he wrote whilst his Madrid hotel was under gunfire. (Because of the Civil War).

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By 1939 Hemingway and Pauline separated. Hemingway again suffered from guilt and shortly after their separation he wrote 'For Whom The Bell Tolls.'

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