Yours, for Probably Always: Martha Gellhorn's Letters of Love and War 1930-1949

by Janet Somerville

(starred review) Somerville makes an impressive book debut with a life of novelist, journalist, and intrepid war correspondent Martha Gellhorn (1908-1998), told through a captivating selection of her letters to friends, family, husbands, and lovers. The volume is enriched by Somerville's biographical narrative and her decision to include responses of many recipients and, in some cases, letters between individuals who were especially significant in Gellhorn's life... An engrossing collection that burnishes Gellhorn's reputation as an astute observer, insightful writer, and uniquely brave woman.
--Kirkus, July 08, 2019 "A titan of American letters. It's high time for Gellhorn to emerge from the shadows of twentieth-century literature into the bright light of mainstream recognition."
--The Washington Post Book World (on Martha Gelhorn) Before email, when long distance telephone calls were difficult and expensive, people wrote letters, often several each day. Today, those letters provide an intimate and revealing look at the lives and loves of the people who wrote them. When the author is a brilliant writer who lived an exciting, eventful life, the letters are especially interesting. Martha Gellhorn was a strong-willed, self-made, modern woman whose journalism, and life, were widely influential at the time and cleared a path for women who came after her. An ardent anti-fascist, she abhorred "objectivity shit" and wrote about real people doing real things with intelligence and passion. She is most famous, to her enduring exasperation, as Ernest Hemingway's third wife. Long after their divorce, her short tenure as "Mrs. Hemingway" from 1940 to 1945 invariably eclipsed her writing and, consequently, she never received her full due. Gellhorn's work and personal life attracted a disparate cadre of political and celebrity friends, among them, Sylvia Beach, Ingrid Bergman, Leonard Bernstein, Norman Bethune, Robert Capa, Charlie Chaplin, Chiang Kai-shek, Madame Chiang, Colette, Gary Cooper, John Dos Passos, Dorothy Parker, Maxwell Perkins, Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Orson Welles, H.G. Wells -- the people who made history in her time and beyond. Yours, for Probably Always is a curated collection of letters between Gellhorn and the extraordinary personalities that were her correspondents in the most interesting time of her life. Through these letters and the author's contextual narrative, the book covers Gellhorn's life and work, including her time reporting for Harry Hopkins and America's Federal Emergency Relief Administration in the 1930s, her newspaper and magazine reportage during the Spanish Civil War, World War II and the Vietnam War, and her relationships with Hemingway and General James M. Gavin late in the war, and her many lovers and affairs. Gellhorn's fiction of the time sold The Trouble I've Seen (1936) -- her Depression-Era stories based on the FERA activities, with an introduction by H.G. Wells; A Stricken Field (1940) -- a novel inspired by the German-Jewish refugee crisis and set in 1938 Czechoslovakia; The Heart of Another (1941) -- stories edited by Maxwell Perkins; and The Wine of Astonishment (1948) -- her novel about the liberation of Dachau, which she reported for Collier's . Gellhorn's life, reportage, fiction and correspondence reveal her passionate advocacy of social justice and her need to tell the stories of "the people who were the sufferers of history." Renewed interest in her life makes this new collection, packed with newly discovered letters and pictures, fascinating reading.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Memoir, War, World War II, 20th Century

528 pages, Hardcover

Published September 27, 2019

Reviews

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Letters go beyond biography, even autography, for they peer into the heart and soul of a person, exposing fears, feelings, falsehoods and frailties without censor or editor. This compilation of Martha Gellhorn’s letters during the formative years (1930- 1949) of her long journalistic career is an excellent glimpse into the intimate corners of a complex woman, a woman from—and connected to—privilege, who risked her life to display the world’s warts and fight for the underdog.

Starting from her doomed affair with a married, older man, Bertrand de Jouvenel who could (or would?) never get a divorce, and an absentee marriage to Ernest Hemingway, Gellhorn goes onto have many relationships with men of influence. Even the doddering 69-year old sex fiend, H.G. Wells, falls “ass over tea-kettle” for 26 year-old Martha at one point and helps get her first book published. Many of the letters are love letters, of pining from a distance (mostly suffered by the men, particularly Betrand and Ernest), a distance Martha seems to have sought, for she was self-confessed about preferring being desired by men rather than having sex with them. Some of her letters to Hemingway and Wells amount to overt flattery just to string them along. There were times when I felt she was flagrantly using her contacts to further her career, although as a journalist she was often without money and constantly on the move without acquiring firm roots.

The letters also expose a very close and sometimes mutually fawning relationship between Gellhorn and Eleanor Roosevelt, a relationship that opens many doors for the young journalist, particularly to provide her with letters of safe passage from President Roosevelt during her peregrinations in war-ravaged zones and to get her preferential treatment when, having no success at giving birth to a child, she adopts one as a single parent. This latter move was something unheard of at the time, and would not have happened if not for the intervention of Aunty Eleanor.

Although claiming not to be only about Hemingway, the bulk of this book, focusses on the affair Martha began with him while Ernest was still married to Pauline Pfeiffer, while they were both covering the Spanish Civil War, and during the subsequent five years when they were married to each other. Most of those married years were spent apart, as these two ambitious writers selfishly pursued their respective careers. Professional jealousy permeated the marriage, and while Gellhorn helped Hemingway with his masterpiece, For Whom The Bells Toll, during this time, and he was able to get her a better publisher in Scribners, her letters indicate that she roiled in the shadow of his literary greatness. “You are a very great writer and what you see gets compacted into a book. I’m not a very great writer and function more like colonic irrigation.” For his part, Hemingway wanted a wife minding the home fires, taking care of him, and not gadding about the world covering hot spots. The final straw snapped when Ernest stole Martha’s press pass to cover D-Day, leading her to stow away aboard a hospital ship to get to the war zone and scoop him.

Gellhorn was the consummate writer and used the craft for mind and spirit purgation, not for just earning a living, although as her war correspondent’s reputation grew, she earned top dollar for her on-location pieces with Colliers Magazine, more than she did with her early books. The angst and rejection of the writer comes out in some of her letters as she tries valiantly to aim for the masterpiece but always falls short, in her opinion. She was also born at the wrong age – she espoused feminism in an age of femininity, and bemoaned that being a woman didn’t help perform her dangerous job. Her desire to throw herself in harm’s way was also driven by the need to be recognized and escape her drab hometown life in St. Louis, Missouri. “If you are part of a big thing, you are safe.”

And yet, I feel she believed in some form of immunity for her class, nationality, and sex during her travels through theatres of war. Somehow, it was somebody else’s job to get wounded or die, not hers, for why else would she have left her gas mask back in New York when she travelled to the European battlefront, or embark upon torpedo-infested seas to get to Finland to cover the Russian invasion, or live in a hotel that was smack in the line of fire between Nationalist and Republican forces in Spain?

The value of her writing, both in her fiction and non-fiction, is the insider’s view that she brought to the reader. She was the quintessential witness to the horrors of the 20th century – this is probably the underlying motive that drove her, for even the promise of literary greatness is not sufficient to put oneself in harm’s way repeatedly, like she did, like a punch-drunk boxer looking for the next fight.

Her summation: “Half of the world is bullied and terrorized by dictators, and the other half is soppy with cowardice and selfishness. The young men will die and the old, powerful men will survive to mishandle the peace.” True today, as it was then, making me wonder whether Martha gave of herself in vain—the world is not going to change overnight, selfless journalists, notwithstanding.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

If it hadn't been for the 'rona, I probably would never have finished this book. I borrowed it from the library and then they went into 'rona shutdown, so I had it for months. I needed every day of it. To be honest, I knew nothing about Gellhorn except that she was married to Hemingway, and this connection was my motivation behind signing out the book.

As one might deduce from the title, Ms Somerville has gleaned sufficient information from Gellhorn's correspondence to write a book. I don't know how to file it: it's not sufficiently detailed to be a biography and, since the correspondence is mostly of a personal nature, it can't properly be considered a memoir. The documents are arranged chronologically and I was surprised to find little from Hemingway. According to whom you believe, she either returned his letters to him at his request or burned them up. And Hemingway doesn't make an appearance 'til well into the book, which means I had to gag through a lot of cutesy-wutesy baby talk until I got there.

Basically Somerville reproduces the content of the letters verbatim and in chronological order, providing explanatory narrative of her own when there is a need to explain events. It's a sensible setup, and there are a lot of great glossy photos of the principal characters and documents. But Somerville couldn't make me like Gellhorn. My take on her was that she was manipulative and used people to get ahead, and perhaps even cultivated relationships with personal advancement in mind. I'm not sure how Bertrand de Jouvenel fit in; his letters to her were so sticky-sweet they made my teeth ache. She doesn't seem to have benefitted from this affair, but all other personal relationships seem to be with people who could open doors for her. Odd that a woman who didn't particularly enjoy sex would enter into so many sexual relationships.

Gellhorn was a friend of Eleanor Roosevelt and was very solicitous in her letters to the President's wife. Naturally, this relationship opened doors for the young author. H.G. Wells had access to publishers. Hemingway, of course, was arguably the best known writer of his time so the benefits of a relationship with him are obvious. And, if you're reporting in a war zone, who better to be have an affair with than General James (Jumpin' Jim) Gavin? It was disheartening to see the tough general, probably still exhausted from his fling with Dietrich, writing love talk to Gellhorn in a most unsoldierly way.

She gets full points for guts, though. She was there for the Spanish Civil War and stowed away on board a hospital ship to become the only female correspondent at the Normandy landings. She was also a staunch advocate for the poor and downtrodden of the world and tried to use her influence with the Roosevelts to have the USA take in Spanish war orphans. Probably reading her letters gave me an unfairly biased view of the woman and I know nothing of her output as a writer. I might just have to track down one of her titles to see how she fared in her chosen profession.

For fans of Gellhorn, if such there be, this will probably be an interesting read. Hemingway fans will likely be disappointed.

[Literary Redhead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martha Gellhorn is most famously known as Hemingway’s third wife. But she was a pioneer war correspondent — the only woman to land at Normandy on D-Day and among the first to report from Dachau after its liberation by US troops.

Yours, for Probably Always, is a superb collection of her letters, with insightful background by author Janet Somerville.

Gellhorn corresponded with the best and brightest of the day, including close friend Eleanor Roosevelt, with a huge number of their letters included.

We learn a great deal about Gellhorn, her work with America’s Federal Emergency Relief Administration in the 1930s, reportage during the Spanish Civil War, World War II and the Vietnam War, as well as her relationships with Hemingway and her lover General James M. Gavin, the youngest major general to helm an American division during World War II.

Highly recommended for the legion of Gellhorn fans, journalism junkies, and war history buffs.

Pub date: Oct. 1, 2019

Thanks to Janet Somerville, Firefly Books Ltd., and NetGalley for the review copy. Opinions are mine.

#YoursForProbablyAlways #NetGalley

[Brendan (History Nerds United) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess I am not a fan of reading other people's mail. Janet Somerville has written Yours, for Probably always using Martha Gellhorn's personal letters. Gellhorn is someone you may or may not have heard of but is very often paired with Ernest Hemingway to whom she was married. More importantly, Gellhorn was a war correspondent and was the only women to land at Normandy on D-Day while stowed away on a boat.

Gellhorn's life is certainly worthy of a book, but reading through her letters feels very disjointed. These letters are chronological and to various people. It felt jarring and Somerville's own text tries to bridge a gap which is too big. Plus, personal letters don't always show you the real person, but who the person wants to present themselves as. I'd probably read a biography of Gellhorn by Somerville, but the mechanic of using her letters did not pull me in.

(This book was provided as a review copy.)

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting collection of Martha Gellhorn’s correspondence, interspersed with biographical detail for context.

For the most part, this is a worthy selection of correspondence that provides greater insight into Gellhorn’s life as seen through her own eyes and those of her correspondents.

This is a denser read than most compilations of personal letters, and that’s a good thing. This is partially due to the substance, tone, and beautiful writing that mark out Gellhorn’s missives as different from much of the frippery we usually see in collected letters. The fact that she had so many pen pals who were themselves impressive personages and compelling writers didn’t hurt either.

As is often the case with correspondence collections, the volume of writing included between select parties is largely determined by what was available to the compiler. This sometimes (and is the case here) provides quantities of letters with certain correspondents that don’t seem to have the quality required to justify that.

In this book, there is a huge number of exchanges between Gellhorn and Eleanor Roosevelt. While Roosevelt is of course a fascinating woman in her own right and certainly there is good information to be gleaned from letters between the two, their exchanges are mostly personal fondness and were clearly included in the book in such large volume because said large volume was readily available, rather than because they really needed to be there.

Conversely, while many of Martha’s letters to Hemingway appear in the book, there is but one letter from Hemingway to Gellhorn included. This is likely because of three things: Gellhorn returning much of Hemingway’s half of their correspondence to him upon their divorce in 1945, the fact that many of their letters were likely heavily censored because they were written during the war, and that Gellhorn zealously destroyed much of the correspondence between she and Hemingway shortly before her death.

None of this is the fault of the author of this book, who did well with what she had to work with. Still, it’s a good lesson in why compilations of correspondence often don’t truly give the full picture of the subject’s life. In this case, the author did an admirable job of making up the difference with the biographical information interspersed with the letters throughout the text.

*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

[Bob H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a candid, vibrant encounter with a warm, intelligent and remarkable personality. This is Martha Gellhorn, through her correspondence with her friends and lovers but speaking to us now, as she lives through some of the most turbulent times and scenes of the mid-20th Century. A pioneer in many ways, she reported on, wrote about, lived through the Depression, the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War and continued reporting through the Vietnam era, although this book mainly spans the 1930s and 1940s.

Her correspondence with, and marriage to, Ernest Hemingway is one center of this book, although it is her voice and her intelligence that is what we absorb, and what she should be remembered for. There are other figures that also stand out, notably through her lengthy correspondence and friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt, as well as her romance with the young Army general, James Gavin.

Her daughter-in-law, Janet Somerville, gathered and presents this material, a mosaic of Ms. Gellhorn's life, but Ms. Somerville does deserve her place on the cover as, essentially, co-author. Ms. Somerville fills out the correspondence with her commentary and contextual information (which the publisher has thoughtfully typeset with a different font for easier reading). Ms. Somerville's commentary is intelligent, complimentary, and invaluable to the general reader who experiences this collage as a story, a biography. This book will also be invaluable for researchers and literary historians interested in this vivid and important contributor to American mid-20th Century writing. Highly recommend.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book about a very interesting woman.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somerville has selected letters from the journalist Martha Gellhorn's correspondence from the 1930s and 40s to present a compelling story of one of the 20th century's important war and travel writers, who was also an underestimated fiction writer, and a trailblazer who had a privileged and politically connected upbringing, a contrarian's heart and soul, and an abiding commitment to life's underdogs. She was decidedly anti-fascist and loathed those who compromised or took a stance of malign neutrality. She was fiercely loyal but as fiercely independent. Her mother was a founder of The League of Women's Voters and a passionate liberal, as was her father, a doctor. A daughter of St. Louis, who escaped the city as soon as she could, she lived in New York, Paris, Cuba, London, Mexico, and many other places, often traveling to cover wars or to see new places.

She wrote, "and life with one suitcase is my idea of life with exactly enough possessions." Later she observed, "I'll never see enough as long as I live."

Among her correspondents were her parents, brother, Eleanor Roosevelt, lovers and former lovers, some of whom included Collette's step-son, H.G. Wells, Ernest Hemingway, and General James Gavin. Men fell in love with her. She was quasi-married once and legally married twice.  A divorced woman, she adopted a war orphan from Italy and raised him on her own. She covered the betrayal that was the Munich Pact in Czechoslovakia, the Spanish Civil War from Spain, as well as advocating for the Republican cause in the U.S. and abroad, went to China when Japan was at war with them, covered World War II from London, including sneaking aboard a hospital ship that took part in the Normandy invasion, and covered the Nuremberg Trials. (She also covered many other wars, including Vietnam, that occurred in years beyond the scope of Somerville's fine book.)

Gellhorn could write: "I do not believe that Fascism can destroy democracy, I think democracy can only destroy itself. Is must have so weakened and cheapened and denied itself that it is no longer a moving or inspiring reality."

Or: "Did you know that a torpedo could weigh 1500 kilos and travel five or six miles. Men are too clever. It has really gone too far." 

"A country isn't big enough if it has no room for children."

She was brave, resourceful, and admirable in living her life as she felt compelled to. Her rules. "I do not even now what I scream against, except the barbarousness of the human animal. I scream for kindness. Let there be kindness."

She worked into her 80s, suggesting a follow-up to Yours, for probably always might be possible. But first buy and read this one, which will increase the likelihood of a second volume.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. With that said, I doubt everyone will love this book, so let me tell you about it.

Martha Gellhorn was a noted war journalist and writer who wrote about the Spanish Civil War, the invasion of Prague, and many campaigns during WWII. She continued reporting on wars zone up the Vietnam era. She was a passionate person who could not bear injustice, and hence was constantly emotionally wrecked by each new atrocity. She is also a marvellously descriptive writer, both of emotion and experience. This is letters between her and her friends from 1930-1939. And wow, some of her friends were HG Wells, and Eleanor Roosevelt, and a lot of the Hemingway/Fitzgerald literary crowd.

I enjoy reading her letters because they are so vivid and so direct. She hated BS, and very open about her feelings, even moaning to Eleanor Roosevelt about her emotions. It's a book to read slowly - read a bit, put it down, pick it up again. Otherwise you will be overwhelmed.

The one thing people today might know about Gellhorn is that she was Hemingway's third wife. This is of course part of the letters, but not the sole focus. She and Hemingway had a complicated relationship. She was already a journalist and writer before they traveled to Spain to report on the Spanish Civil War. After they started a relationship, Hemingway appointed himself her mentor, criticizing her work, and trying to have her write in a style similar to his. He was jealous when she got assignments to go overseas. This is all touched on in the letters, but does not dominate.

[Kat Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be honest, when I requested this book, I knew little to nothing about Martha Gellhorn. What I found was a total badass. She was such a fantastic representative of early-ish feminine independence and strength. She paved a way for modern feminists to really live boldly. I was really inspired reading her correspondence and learning about her life, and I can’t wait to live my life a little more boldly. I’d like to think if we had been born in the same time and ran in the same circles, we would have been friends.

[Joy Matteson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martha Gellhorn’s claim to fame might be as Ernest Hemingway’s third wife, but after listening to her personal letters narrated by actress Ellen Barkin, the listener can only come away with a rich tapestried characterization of this remarkable journalist and writer. This series of letters from Gellhorn to her friends, family, and lovers takes place throughout the Depression and World War II, and covers the passions, tragedies, and grand adventures of some astonishing decades. Ellen Barkin’s raspy voice gives one the sense that they’re listening to their grandmother tell unbelievable tales of their young adult life. There are few pauses in between the letters, requiring some adjustment for the listener as they navigate the dates and times of her many adventures overseas. Somerville’s prose and explanations between Gellhorn letters support the listening experience, but also takes some adaptation to Barkin’s style of performance as her tones do not change to reflect prose as a contrast to the letter recitations. These letters are intimate, detailed, and give the listener a sense of what life was like during one of the most tumultuous times of 20th century history. One will receive a sense that many of the same struggles and political realities still exist today, and find many parallels and an empathetic, erudite, and passionate woman who can still inspire many today. Recommended for fans of early 20th century history and historical fiction.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this during 2020 where we are going through a pandemic and there is a lot of political unrest makes it all the more interesting as unfortunately some things have improved much...

[Kim Shepherd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Martha Gellhorn was a strong-willed, self-made, modern woman whose pioneering journalism paved the way for women who came after her. An ardent anti-fascist, she abhorred “objectivity shit” and wrote about real people doing real things with intelligence and passion. Her life, reportage, fiction and correspondence all reveal her passionate advocacy of social justice and her need to tell the stories of “the people who were the sufferers of history.” Gellhorn is most famous, to her enduring exasperation, as Ernest Hemingway’s third wife. Long after their divorce, her short tenure as “Mrs. Hemingway” (1940-1945) invariably eclipsed her writing and, consequently, she never received her full due.

Yours, for Probably Always is a curated collection of letters between Gellhorn and the extraordinary personalities that were her correspondents in the most interesting time of her life. Her work and personal life attracted a disparate cadre of political and celebrity friends, among them, Ingrid Bergman, Leonard Bernstein, Norman Bethune, Robert Capa, Charlie Chaplin, Sylvia Beach, Colette, Gary Cooper, Maxwell Perkins, Eleanor and Franklin D. Roosevelt, Orson Welles, H.G Wells: the people who made history in their time and beyond. Through her letters, and with Janet Somerville’s contextual narrative, the book covers Gellhorn’s life and work, including reporting for Harry Hopkins and America’s Federal Emergency Relief Administration in the 1930s, newspaper and magazine reportage during the Spanish Civil War, World War II and the Vietnam War, plus her time with Hemingway and General James M. Gavin late in the war.

As with a previous book I read “Beautiful Exiles” I just expected more.... more of Martha’s story and not just some excerpts of letters written trying to explain why she was who she was.

I received this ARC for free in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you NetGalley, Janet Somerville and Firefly Books

[Schmimmerock · Rating 4 out of 5]

If there are only two things I have in common with Ernest Hemingway, it's that I hate Ernest Hemingway, and I love Martha Gellhorn.

It's really a shame that so many people only know her as Hemingway's wife, because that's a massive disservice to Martha Gellhorn the writer, Martha Gellhorn the traveller, Martha Gellhorn the journalist and war correspondent.

What a seriously cool lady, you guys.

I appreciated the contextual bits amongst the letters. As with any collection of letters, there are gaps and sensical transitions can be tricky, so I appreciated the context. As others have mentioned it can get dense at times, but I don't want the density to deter people. This is still absolutely worth picking up. Take it slow, savor it, because if you try and read it all at once there's a good chance of overwhelming yourself. There's a lot of familial back and forth to wade through to get to the more substantial parts of her letters, but the writing is so compelling and wonderful to read, and is very worth savoring. Granted, she had a lot of interesting friends, which make for very captivating conversations and letters.

This is a must-have for Gellhorn enthusiasts, or people who enjoy well-written correspondence between relentlessly interesting people.

Thank you muchly to NetGalley, Firefly Books, and Janet Somerville for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Janis Mckay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A much needed corrective to the numerous Hemingway books and their very snarky and biased presentation of the incredible reporter Martha Gellhorn. When you can see both her letters and the letters from others, in their entirety, it becomes clear that some Hemingway scholars have been interpreting these to suit their theories. Hemingway himself wrote numerous untruths about Gellhorn, as he did with so many other people who were his friends and lovers. Gellhorn was flawed, but no more flawed than anyone else really, and to focus on her "flaws"and ignore her sharp and passionate war reporting is to miss a great deal. She had a remarkable career as a writer and journalist and deserves to be known for this and not just consigned to the footnotes of Hemingway's life as his third wife.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured every page. If you didn’t love Martha Gellhorn before, you will after reading this book.

[Susanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Firefly Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Martha Gellhorn is a fascinating figure, and this compilation of her correspondence gives us a bit of insight into her personal life. What she is most famous for, i.e. being Ernest Hemingway's third wife, and being one of the first female war correspondents, doesn't merit much attention here. Instead, there is quite a lot of material on her relationship to her parents, and to Eleanor Roosevelt. However, much of this does not really seem germane to the person of Martha Gellhorn and what shaped her as a writer, but is included simply because it is available.

I must confess that I did find parts of this book hard going, as I had to wade through a lot of familial and friend's affection and support, to get to the meat of Martha Gellhorn as a writer. The author made up for some of this with biographical information interspersed with the letters throughout the text.

[Elisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cool way to get to know a person: reading letters to and from her. Watching her mature from a brash and self-absorbed 20-year-old to a courageous and compassionate woman was absolutely fascinating. And what an incredible life to read an account of! She adventured and she wrote and she formed beautiful friendships. My favorites were with her mother and Eleanor Roosevelt (what a lady, E.R.!) Also stole a lot of hearts, including Ernest Hemingway’s, but never agreed to be the supporting wife behind any man without pursuits of her own. These letters weren’t meant for the world and that’s what makes them such an excellent way to truly understand her character. Also, an unusual and fun way to see her distinctive voice as a writer.

I wouldn’t have minded slightly fewer letters as this was a fat, fat book. A couple times the connective parts were a little disjointed and confused me, but usually they were very helpful.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martha Gellhorn lead an amazing life travelling the world as a war correspondent, journalist and author. This book chronicles her life through the letters she wrote and many that she received. Sommerville uses just the right amount of narration between the letters to keep the book on track and to set the scene. I found this to be a long book, but worth it. Through her letters, you can see Gellhorn’s passion for travel, people and writing about the important events of the day. Yes, she was Hemingway’s 3rd wife, but she was so much more and of course, it led to their divorce. She was uncompromising in what she wanted and a really intrepid (she had to be because she was the only woman) war correspondent. It was very interesting to see into the mind of a writer: what it takes to write a novel, to be a war correspondent, or journalist.

[Karenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating to read the correspondence of an extraordinary woman during extraordinary times. Somerville does a great job summarizing the essential events in Gellhorn’s life as well as curating the letters so that you finish the book with a real sense of Gellhorn and her era. I also appreciated that Somerville included one of Gellhorn’s short stories. It really provided me with a sense of Gellhorn’s literary style and talent. Finally, Firefly did a wonderful job of producing the book. Its beauty and content make this a real keepsake.

[Glenda Burgess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written and thoroughly researched, Janet Somerville's study of Martha Gellhorn's life and loves is a truly engaging read. Through Martha's letters to luminous historical figures, including husband and writer Ernest Hemingway, and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Gellhorn's life and travels as a journalist and war correspondent are revealed to us along with her fierce intelligence, courage, wit, and forthright political beliefs. A woman outstanding in her time, in Somerville's able hands Martha Gellhorn is a remarkable voice for our time too. Fully recommend.

[Ann Peachman Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of letters to and from war correspondent Martha Gellhorn is interesting. It gives insight into Gellhorn herself, who was certainly not typical of her time, and many others who were important in her life. She was friends with famous people such as Eleanor Roosevelt and this is fascinating. The letters are from a turbulent time in history, and they give a feel of the uncertainty of it.

[Lynda Lippin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Journalist Martha Gellhorn tried to control her entire life, even when she couldn't. She was married to Ernest Hemingway, embedded with troops in WWII, and visited Dachau right after the liberation. These years of correspondence are not all so interesting, but in total tell a great story of a fascinating woman.

[Lorna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I won this book as part of a GoodReads giveaway! I was really excited to learn more about Martha Gellhorn, as I think that she is an extremely interesting woman. Unfortunately, try as I might I just could not enjoy the book. I've read other books in similar formats, so I am not sure why I could not get into it, but overall I just found it too much of a slog.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I confess I found the first third this a bit of a slog. It picks up around wartime when she's writing less about herself and more about the world. Note she casually drops racist terms midway through that made me cringe. Janet Somerville's narrative contextualizes the letters well. And although Martha Gellhorn led an interesting life, I found her hard to like.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing woman. Living her life to the fullest and never taking no for an answer. She faced all conflict head on and believed like her great friend Eleanor Roosevelt that your life was to be lived to make a difference. It is awesome how she was not just witnessing the conflict but assisted as best she could when needed. A remarkable woman.

[Jean Heys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating window with meticulous detail into the life of Martha Gellhorn and her contemporaries. A book to savour and return to again and again.

[Doris Raines · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LIKE THIS BOOK.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully and insightfully written biography of one of the most interesting journalists of the twentieth century.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of letters - it feels odd to read someones personal letters yet also familiar. It makes me want to write more letters.
The thoughts on the war and on life and love I enjoyed.