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My Life with Che: The Making of a Revolutionary
Che Guevara's first wife, Hilda Gadea, paints a personal portrait of the legendary figure, revealing his lesser known side as a romantic wanderer, a philosopher and doting suitor and father. Ernesto Guevara and Hilda Gadea met in Guatemala as members of the political-exile community. Later they were forced to flee to Mexico, where their relationship grew stronger and where, stimulated by Hilda, Che's convictions were shaped. In Hilda's account, their life together is filled with joy, and the excitement of involvement with the Castros and other Cuban refugees. Gadea was with Guevara during a tumultuous period in his life, which turned him from an intellectual theorist to a dedicated revolutionary. Against this backdrop, she offers insight into their long courtship, five years of marriage, and the birth of their daughter, Hildita. Gradually the character of this influential leader is revealed by the woman who knew him best, providing a vital key to the comprehension of Che's legendary qualities.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published July 22, 2008
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127 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 1, 2019
very detailed, interesting. Che loved his daughter...Hilda was supportive the whole time
2nd reading: I loved it more. The most memorable chapters started at 7, the best was the last. Included in this memoir were all the letters written by Che to his wife and then to their daughter Hildita. This covers the time in the Sierra Maestra Mountains, the triumph of the Revolution on January 1, 1959, and the creation on government. Hilda was an active part as well.
2nd reading: I loved it more. The most memorable chapters started at 7, the best was the last. Included in this memoir were all the letters written by Che to his wife and then to their daughter Hildita. This covers the time in the Sierra Maestra Mountains, the triumph of the Revolution on January 1, 1959, and the creation on government. Hilda was an active part as well.
June 22, 2025
I'm giving it 5 stars because I genuinely can't give anything involving Che less than a perfect rating; call it a bias if you will.
Hilda gives a great recount of her time married to Che Guevara, including some time after their divorce and his untimely death. I've said the same when I read Aleida's memoirs — his second wife — so I'll say it again here: as a communist, writer, and soldier, Che was exemplary. As a husband and father, he was absolutely terrible.
There was definitely a lot Hilda didn't talk about; although she was detailed in her accounts down to the minutiae, there wasn't much emotion in her writing — perhaps this is intentional. But even if you just take their relationship at face value from this book, with the incredible amount of glazing of Che's character, he doesn't come out looking great. Hilda met Che, then Ernesto, when he was broke, serially unemployed, and honestly, doing very little with his life aside from incessant wandering. She was the one who lent him money, gave him a place to stay, and introduced him to her network of political activists. Without Hilda, Ernesto would have never met Fidel Castro and never became the revolutionary icon we know today.
Unfortunately, Che's toxic male characteristics and a tendency to be rather self-absorbed emerge despite Hilda's efforts. For example, he had a number of affairs despite the fact that he kept asking her to marry him. He argued with her a lot. When she was pregnant, he seemed to show little regard for her wellbeing and, of course, showed up very little for his daughter (he felt guilty about this later in life). It is interesting to note how Hilda was much more of Che's intellectual equal than Aleida was; if I remember correctly from Jon Lee Anderson's biography, he was drawn to her mind much more than her appearance. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough for Che, who had a serious problem with his womanizing.
I have an ENORMOUS soft spot for Che, but that doesn't stop me from critiquing his personal character. I think it's important we remember he was a deeply flawed man, even if history paints him as more saint than mortal. Several of his actions were inexcusable: not inviting Hilda and their daughter to Cuba when Hilda wanted them to be reunited as a family, not being emotionally supportive even in letters when she was having a tremendously difficult time raising a child alone while dealing with the death of her own mother, having multiple affairs during the war (not mentioned in her memoirs) — he never had any intention to stay faithful to her, and finally, after years of separation, serving her a divorce. To say it was an unhealthy relationship is putting it lightly.
Che seemed to love his daughter a lot more than Hilda; he wrote to her and saw her a few times a week, even when he was living with Aleida and the family he had with her. He was very affectionate towards her, and his letters to her are some of the best parts of the book. Unfortunately, as with all of Che's children, he wasn't really around them enough to be a father figure, being so busy with his work in the government and abroad. The fact he died so young didn't help either; I think it's fair to say he didn't really know his children, and they didn't know him, which is its own tragedy.
Another thing Hilda doesn't openly state but is quite obvious when you read between the lines a little, is that she remained quite in love with Che, even after he divorced her. She moves to Cuba, allows Che to be a part of her daughter's life, and even helps him in the Cuban government. They remained on cordial terms. I think this was incredibly generous, given how negligent he was towards her. She also ends her memoir praising him and his legacy, which are indeed monumental.
Ultimately, I have a lot of respect for Hilda Gadea. That being said, I don't recommend reading this book unless you already know the historical context surrounding the events she narrates. Since you're obviously going to be reading this book more for Che, it's best to also have a grasp of his character beforehand. By no means are these memoirs stellar writing, but they are incredibly valuable historical documents in their own right that lets us understand the minds and motivations of the figures behind the Cuban Revolution.
Hilda gives a great recount of her time married to Che Guevara, including some time after their divorce and his untimely death. I've said the same when I read Aleida's memoirs — his second wife — so I'll say it again here: as a communist, writer, and soldier, Che was exemplary. As a husband and father, he was absolutely terrible.
There was definitely a lot Hilda didn't talk about; although she was detailed in her accounts down to the minutiae, there wasn't much emotion in her writing — perhaps this is intentional. But even if you just take their relationship at face value from this book, with the incredible amount of glazing of Che's character, he doesn't come out looking great. Hilda met Che, then Ernesto, when he was broke, serially unemployed, and honestly, doing very little with his life aside from incessant wandering. She was the one who lent him money, gave him a place to stay, and introduced him to her network of political activists. Without Hilda, Ernesto would have never met Fidel Castro and never became the revolutionary icon we know today.
Unfortunately, Che's toxic male characteristics and a tendency to be rather self-absorbed emerge despite Hilda's efforts. For example, he had a number of affairs despite the fact that he kept asking her to marry him. He argued with her a lot. When she was pregnant, he seemed to show little regard for her wellbeing and, of course, showed up very little for his daughter (he felt guilty about this later in life). It is interesting to note how Hilda was much more of Che's intellectual equal than Aleida was; if I remember correctly from Jon Lee Anderson's biography, he was drawn to her mind much more than her appearance. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough for Che, who had a serious problem with his womanizing.
I have an ENORMOUS soft spot for Che, but that doesn't stop me from critiquing his personal character. I think it's important we remember he was a deeply flawed man, even if history paints him as more saint than mortal. Several of his actions were inexcusable: not inviting Hilda and their daughter to Cuba when Hilda wanted them to be reunited as a family, not being emotionally supportive even in letters when she was having a tremendously difficult time raising a child alone while dealing with the death of her own mother, having multiple affairs during the war (not mentioned in her memoirs) — he never had any intention to stay faithful to her, and finally, after years of separation, serving her a divorce. To say it was an unhealthy relationship is putting it lightly.
Che seemed to love his daughter a lot more than Hilda; he wrote to her and saw her a few times a week, even when he was living with Aleida and the family he had with her. He was very affectionate towards her, and his letters to her are some of the best parts of the book. Unfortunately, as with all of Che's children, he wasn't really around them enough to be a father figure, being so busy with his work in the government and abroad. The fact he died so young didn't help either; I think it's fair to say he didn't really know his children, and they didn't know him, which is its own tragedy.
Another thing Hilda doesn't openly state but is quite obvious when you read between the lines a little, is that she remained quite in love with Che, even after he divorced her. She moves to Cuba, allows Che to be a part of her daughter's life, and even helps him in the Cuban government. They remained on cordial terms. I think this was incredibly generous, given how negligent he was towards her. She also ends her memoir praising him and his legacy, which are indeed monumental.
Ultimately, I have a lot of respect for Hilda Gadea. That being said, I don't recommend reading this book unless you already know the historical context surrounding the events she narrates. Since you're obviously going to be reading this book more for Che, it's best to also have a grasp of his character beforehand. By no means are these memoirs stellar writing, but they are incredibly valuable historical documents in their own right that lets us understand the minds and motivations of the figures behind the Cuban Revolution.
November 3, 2019
Ernesto "Che" Guevara was a charismatic revolutionary who many people admired. Hilda Gadea was his first wife. In this book she shares her history with Che. I would not recommend this book to a novice who has no background regarding the Central American revolution in the 1940's. She retells conversations with Che, letters he wrote, and gives insight into his thoughts; however the actual events of the day are lost in the minutiae of her recollections. This would be a difficult read for anyone who is not a scholar on this subject.
June 20, 2018
Not a literary classic. The style of writing is almost clinical report rather than fond memory of someone. That said it gives a superb insight into Che as he meets his first wife and becomes the revolutionary we all know by name, but haven't got a clue about as a man. HUGE respect for Hilda who was equally passionate, well educated and determined. Makes me wonder if he'd have become Che Guevara the man we all know had he not met her.
December 25, 2025
Geweldig. Geeft je zo veel inzichten over de revolutie in Cuba. Hele interessante personages en geeft je echt een beeld bij. Makkelijk te lezen en ook leuk en mooi om echte foto’s en brieven te kunnen lezen.
February 18, 2018
An interesting account of Che's time in Guatemala and Mexico. Hilda Gadea was already an economist and Peruvian revolutionary activist in her own right when Che met her.
November 29, 2016
Have you ever been interested in reading about the Great revolutionist Ernesto Che Guevara? If yes, My life with Che is a good book to start with. It’s written by his ex-wife who had been so effective in his life and had observed Che’s personal life. The several initial pages of the book may seem a little bit boring for the people like me who don’t have so much information about history. I remember that I even decided to give up reading the book and finding another book about Che. But fortunately I became more interested in reading it when I passed the introduction pages and started reading the first chapter/part.
I could get a lot of lessons from Che and his wife’s life. The most prominent one is the great deal of effort they were investing on getting knowledge on different subjects and specially dedicating a lot of time to discuss on their readings and analyzing them. Actually they were trying to have sensible and wise movements. Other than the theories that che was interested in learning, he was trying to acquire different skills because he was thinking that every skill will be of some help in the future.
I believe that Hilda (his wife) was the first and the most important person in Che’s life, since it was Hilda who introduced Che to a lot of revolutionists and motivating him to be a true revolutionist, the one who want to act against the imperialism and fight against brutality and problems in Latin America, the start of which was in Cuba. So reading this book is also good opportunity for being familiar with this strong woman.
I think knowing all the information above should have been encouraged you so far to read this book, but the last chapters/parts of the book includes the letters that Che had sent to his little daughter(Hildita). The advices that Che has made in these letters include a lot of valuable lessons for everybody specially for the young and teenagers. Actually the letters have a lot to say although they may include very simple terms.
As the last point on my review of “My life with Che” I have to say that reading this book will provide you with some facts of Fidel Castro’s character who was the leader of Cuba’s revolution. This is the thing that encouraged me to find a book written about Castro.
Read it, enjoy, and share your comments and insights.
I could get a lot of lessons from Che and his wife’s life. The most prominent one is the great deal of effort they were investing on getting knowledge on different subjects and specially dedicating a lot of time to discuss on their readings and analyzing them. Actually they were trying to have sensible and wise movements. Other than the theories that che was interested in learning, he was trying to acquire different skills because he was thinking that every skill will be of some help in the future.
I believe that Hilda (his wife) was the first and the most important person in Che’s life, since it was Hilda who introduced Che to a lot of revolutionists and motivating him to be a true revolutionist, the one who want to act against the imperialism and fight against brutality and problems in Latin America, the start of which was in Cuba. So reading this book is also good opportunity for being familiar with this strong woman.
I think knowing all the information above should have been encouraged you so far to read this book, but the last chapters/parts of the book includes the letters that Che had sent to his little daughter(Hildita). The advices that Che has made in these letters include a lot of valuable lessons for everybody specially for the young and teenagers. Actually the letters have a lot to say although they may include very simple terms.
As the last point on my review of “My life with Che” I have to say that reading this book will provide you with some facts of Fidel Castro’s character who was the leader of Cuba’s revolution. This is the thing that encouraged me to find a book written about Castro.
Read it, enjoy, and share your comments and insights.
July 19, 2012
Fascinating and inspiring
March 28, 2015
She's so much cooler than Che. The insights from it are numerous and interesting, though it has notable (and predictable) biases.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews