Ernesto: The Untold Story of Hemingway in Revolutionary Cuba

Comprehensive biography of Hemingway’s life in Cuba, covering his initial visit with second wife Pauline Pfeiffer in 1928, move to the fishing village of Cojimar with third wife Martha Gellhorn in 1940, and eventual adoption of the island as his second homeland in later years. Feldman discusses Hemingway’s love for the Cuban people, literary debt to Cojimar’s villagers in the writing of The Old Man and the Sea, longtime liaison with Leopoldina Rodriguez, friendships with Cuban writers, neighbors, and fishermen, relationship with Castro, and support of the revolution. Feldman’s examination deftly situates the author and his works (e.g. To Have and Have Not, The Old Man and the Sea, Islands in the Stream) within the island’s complex and changing political, social, and cultural landscapes, drawing on archives from the Hemingway Museum and Library in Havana and John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, biographies, memoirs, histories, correspondence, and other resources. Features over twenty black-and-white photographs. Includes extensive notes and critical bibliography and helpful index