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Autumn in Venice
In the fall of 1948, Ernest Hemingway and his fourth wife traveled for the first time to Venice, which Hemingway called "absolutely god-damned wonderful." A year shy of his fiftieth birthday, Hemingway hadn't published a novel in nearly a decade when he met and fell in love with Adriana Ivancich, a striking Venetian girl just out of finishing school. Here Andrea di Robilant re-creates with sparkling clarity this surprising, years-long relationship, during which Adriana inspired a man thirty years her senior to complete his great final work.
Hemingway used Adriana as the model for Renata in Across the River and into the Trees, and continued to visit Venice to see her; when the Ivanciches traveled to Cuba, Adriana was there as he wrote The Old Man and the Sea. The illuminating story of writer and muse--which also examines the cost to a young woman of her association with a larger-than-life literary celebrity--Autumn in Venice is an intimate look at Hemingway's final years.
Hemingway used Adriana as the model for Renata in Across the River and into the Trees, and continued to visit Venice to see her; when the Ivanciches traveled to Cuba, Adriana was there as he wrote The Old Man and the Sea. The illuminating story of writer and muse--which also examines the cost to a young woman of her association with a larger-than-life literary celebrity--Autumn in Venice is an intimate look at Hemingway's final years.
368 pages, Paperback
First published June 5, 2018
161 people are currently reading
1912 people want to read
About the author
Andrea di Robilant
11 books79 followersAndrea di Robilant was educated at Le Rosey and Columbia University. He now lives in Rome, working as a correspondent for the newspaper La Stampa.
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Want to read
March 23, 2018i want to read this because i enjoy hating ernest hemingway.
November 9, 2022
This is a hard book to review. I understand how many people could be fed up with yet another Hemingway story, even though it’s true and includes their letters. Hemingway is pretty much the antithesis of political correctness, an ego driven and needy man and disrespectful to women.
However, he was also a genius of a writer, receiving a Pulitzer and a Nobel Prize, hugely generous to his friends with money and help, an alcoholic and mentally ill. And yet...and yet, I found this book so intriguing. His need for a 20 yr old muse to stimulate his imagination and writing, the platonic nature of their intense, intimate relationship, the aggrandizement of his interpretation of her Importance, and his total focus and obsession, always, with the writing....the work.
I found it utterly fascinating to see his strengths and weaknesses in the spotlight and was surprised to remember how much of a huge international celebrity he was. He was recognized and pursued in every country, he was followed by the press and fans and tourists wherever he went and was Adored and coddled and loved by his wife Mary. He took all this adulation as his due and needed it.
Maybe with the suicide of Anthony Bourdain I have been overly aware of older men needing the affirmation of younger women and the deep sadness that is often the part of creative, talented, admired, successful men.
However, he was also a genius of a writer, receiving a Pulitzer and a Nobel Prize, hugely generous to his friends with money and help, an alcoholic and mentally ill. And yet...and yet, I found this book so intriguing. His need for a 20 yr old muse to stimulate his imagination and writing, the platonic nature of their intense, intimate relationship, the aggrandizement of his interpretation of her Importance, and his total focus and obsession, always, with the writing....the work.
I found it utterly fascinating to see his strengths and weaknesses in the spotlight and was surprised to remember how much of a huge international celebrity he was. He was recognized and pursued in every country, he was followed by the press and fans and tourists wherever he went and was Adored and coddled and loved by his wife Mary. He took all this adulation as his due and needed it.
Maybe with the suicide of Anthony Bourdain I have been overly aware of older men needing the affirmation of younger women and the deep sadness that is often the part of creative, talented, admired, successful men.
February 19, 2020
Un amore senile
Nell'autunno del 1948 Hemingway, quasi cinquantenne, giunse a Venezia con la quarta moglie, Mary.
Nella città lagunare incontrò una ragazza dell'alta società, Adriana Ivancich, che aveva velleità letterarie (pubblicò, in seguito, delle poesie da Mondadori).
Fra i due ebbe inizio un rapporto, forse esclusivamente platonico, che durò vari anni, molto epistolare (lui viveva a Cuba), senza tuttavia mettere in crisi la relazione con Mary.
Questo innamoramento ispirò il noto romanzo "Di là dal fiume e tra gli alberi", la cui pubblicazione scatenò un'ondata di curiosità e pettegolezzi : molti intravidero Adriana nella protagonista femminile del libro di Hemingway.
L'autore di questa bellissima biografia conobbe anni dopo la stessa Adriana.
Ebbe inoltre accesso a una quantità enorme e piuttosto esaustiva di documenti pubblici e privati, anche perché discendente di una famiglia che fu in rapporti di amicizia con lo scrittore americano.
Il libro presenta una scrittura assai scorrevole e coinvolgente.
Riporta un resoconto delle vicende grandi e piccole in modo dettagliato, ed ha la capacità di ricreare le atmosfere di metà '900 con le suggestioni del turismo di lusso di un'epoca irripetibile.
Un testo che elargisce un'estesissima quantità di informazioni, che lo rendono imperdibile per chi è interessato a Hemingway.
Nell'autunno del 1948 Hemingway, quasi cinquantenne, giunse a Venezia con la quarta moglie, Mary.
Nella città lagunare incontrò una ragazza dell'alta società, Adriana Ivancich, che aveva velleità letterarie (pubblicò, in seguito, delle poesie da Mondadori).
Fra i due ebbe inizio un rapporto, forse esclusivamente platonico, che durò vari anni, molto epistolare (lui viveva a Cuba), senza tuttavia mettere in crisi la relazione con Mary.
Questo innamoramento ispirò il noto romanzo "Di là dal fiume e tra gli alberi", la cui pubblicazione scatenò un'ondata di curiosità e pettegolezzi : molti intravidero Adriana nella protagonista femminile del libro di Hemingway.
L'autore di questa bellissima biografia conobbe anni dopo la stessa Adriana.
Ebbe inoltre accesso a una quantità enorme e piuttosto esaustiva di documenti pubblici e privati, anche perché discendente di una famiglia che fu in rapporti di amicizia con lo scrittore americano.
Il libro presenta una scrittura assai scorrevole e coinvolgente.
Riporta un resoconto delle vicende grandi e piccole in modo dettagliato, ed ha la capacità di ricreare le atmosfere di metà '900 con le suggestioni del turismo di lusso di un'epoca irripetibile.
Un testo che elargisce un'estesissima quantità di informazioni, che lo rendono imperdibile per chi è interessato a Hemingway.
July 9, 2018
This book offers an insightful and often-compelling look at the later years of Hemingway's life, during which he found inspiration in a strange affection for a young Italian woman. Parts of the book are hilarious and other parts quite moving. Brief parts discuss interactions with other famous figures such as Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Spencer Tracy, and Marlene Dietrich. Bits of dialogue are captured, wonderfully poetic romantic letters are explored. However, the author pulls no punches in describing Hemingway's at times ill-tempered and sometimes cruel behavior. It's a straightforward narrative account. If the book has a flaw, it's that it often is too detailed and sometimes comes across as a minute-by-minute play-by-play of Hemingway's daily life. That gets tedious, but always passes and leads to something more interesting and even entertaining. Hemingway isn't one of my personal writing heroes, so if I hadn't won this book in a Goodreads giveaway, I doubt I would've picked it up. I'm glad I did, though. I feel my life has been enriched a little by reading it.
August 2, 2020
Биографично-документален роман за Хемингуей и неговата муза Адриана, която среща случайно във Венеция в края на своя живот. Той е бил женен за Мери, съпруга номер четири. Момичето е младо, едва на 18 години, а той е 50-годишен. Според всички, отношенията им са били платонични, но е факт, че той често е нагрубявал съпругата си и я е сравнявал с девойчето. Писмата между тях прехвърчат, а репутацията на Адриана е срината. Той постоянно е пътувал със съпругата си до Венеция и Париж, а тя му е гостувал даже и в Куба, в семейната им къща. Мери е виждала, че тя обсебва мислите на Хемингуей и той тича подир нея като кученце, но е търпяла всичко, само и само той да продължи да пише.
Хемингуей въобще не ми хареса като човек. Бил е женкар, обичал да пие, да ловува, не се е притеснявал да изневерява, бил е груб, поставял е жена си в неловки положения, раздразнителен почти постоянно, освен ако Адриана не е наблизо, отнасял се е лошо със синовете си, оплювал е другите писатели, бил е психически нестабилен. Но точно към края на живота си той е написал най-хубавото си произведение – „Старецът и морето“, за което получава Нобелова награда.
Като цяло книгата е и донякъде пътепис за пътуванията на семейство Хемингуей из Европа, за живота им Куба, а накрая и пътуването им Африка на сафари. По време на тези пътешествия, двамата претърпяват няколко злополуки, като в Африка два пъти едно след друго катастрофират със самолет. От там нататък травмите и преживелиците се отразяват на психическото състояние на Хемингуей.
Книгата е в разказвателен стил и е за тези, които се интересуват от биографично-документални романи.
Хемингуей въобще не ми хареса като човек. Бил е женкар, обичал да пие, да ловува, не се е притеснявал да изневерява, бил е груб, поставял е жена си в неловки положения, раздразнителен почти постоянно, освен ако Адриана не е наблизо, отнасял се е лошо със синовете си, оплювал е другите писатели, бил е психически нестабилен. Но точно към края на живота си той е написал най-хубавото си произведение – „Старецът и морето“, за което получава Нобелова награда.
Като цяло книгата е и донякъде пътепис за пътуванията на семейство Хемингуей из Европа, за живота им Куба, а накрая и пътуването им Африка на сафари. По време на тези пътешествия, двамата претърпяват няколко злополуки, като в Африка два пъти едно след друго катастрофират със самолет. От там нататък травмите и преживелиците се отразяват на психическото състояние на Хемингуей.
Книгата е в разказвателен стил и е за тези, които се интересуват от биографично-документални романи.
June 30, 2018
This is a Goodreads win review. This is about Ernest Hemingway when he his fourth wife travel to Venice. He was 50 at that time and he had not published any books in ten years. While in Venice he falls in love with a young girl. After she gave him inspiration he started writing again. He kept seeing her for many years.
October 7, 2019
Moram da priznam da mi se ova knjiga izuzetno dopala.
U pitanju je biografija Ernesta Hemingveja, zajedno za pricom o njegovoj poslednjoj muzi Adrijani Ivancic, koja ga je inspirisala da napise dva dela, za jedno od ta dva dela je dobio Pulicerovu i Nobelovu nagradu - "Starac i more".
Hemingvej ili kako su ga mnogi zvali Papa, osim sto je bio velikan knjizevnosti, bio je stravstveni ljubitelj putovanja, umetnosti, alkohola,zena, uopsteno zivota.
Bio je u braku cak cetri puta, a najduze je u braku ostao sa Meri, uprkos glasinama i njegovom odnosu sa Adrijanom.
Pratimo ih na raznim proputovanjima, ukljucujuci Italiju, Francusku,Spaniju,Afriku, Ameriku,i naravno veci deo je posvecen Kubi gde su Hemingvejovi ziveli na imanju Finka.
Adrijanu koja je imala tek 19 godina je upoznao u Veneciji i dogodila se neka promena,sa njegove strane ljubav na prvi pogled...Iako je njihov odnos predstavljen samo kao platonski, glasine koje si kruzile, i njihovo ponasanje je delovalo intimnije.
Velike druzine u svakom gradu, raskosne vecere i reke alkohola su predstavljale uobicajnu pojavu u piscevom zivotu, i on je istinski uzivao u svemu tome.
Sam proces stvaranja i pisanja je takodje zanimljiv, nagle promene raspolozenja, atmosfera u kojoj je radio, pauze koje je koristio za lov,pecanje i plivanje...
Sve nam to blize docarava lik Ernesta Hemingveja.
Neki detalji su mi bili uzasni, kao njegovo ponasanje prema Meri u nekim trenucima, mozda i neka doza sebicnosti koju sam primetila...
Svakako preporucujem svakom koga zanima nesto vise o zivotu ovog autora.
Ni jedne sekunde mi nije bilo dosadno za citanje, da li je to do stila pisanja ili do zivota Ernesta Hemingveja, ostavljam vama da odlucite, ako je procitate.
U pitanju je biografija Ernesta Hemingveja, zajedno za pricom o njegovoj poslednjoj muzi Adrijani Ivancic, koja ga je inspirisala da napise dva dela, za jedno od ta dva dela je dobio Pulicerovu i Nobelovu nagradu - "Starac i more".
Hemingvej ili kako su ga mnogi zvali Papa, osim sto je bio velikan knjizevnosti, bio je stravstveni ljubitelj putovanja, umetnosti, alkohola,zena, uopsteno zivota.
Bio je u braku cak cetri puta, a najduze je u braku ostao sa Meri, uprkos glasinama i njegovom odnosu sa Adrijanom.
Pratimo ih na raznim proputovanjima, ukljucujuci Italiju, Francusku,Spaniju,Afriku, Ameriku,i naravno veci deo je posvecen Kubi gde su Hemingvejovi ziveli na imanju Finka.
Adrijanu koja je imala tek 19 godina je upoznao u Veneciji i dogodila se neka promena,sa njegove strane ljubav na prvi pogled...Iako je njihov odnos predstavljen samo kao platonski, glasine koje si kruzile, i njihovo ponasanje je delovalo intimnije.
Velike druzine u svakom gradu, raskosne vecere i reke alkohola su predstavljale uobicajnu pojavu u piscevom zivotu, i on je istinski uzivao u svemu tome.
Sam proces stvaranja i pisanja je takodje zanimljiv, nagle promene raspolozenja, atmosfera u kojoj je radio, pauze koje je koristio za lov,pecanje i plivanje...
Sve nam to blize docarava lik Ernesta Hemingveja.
Neki detalji su mi bili uzasni, kao njegovo ponasanje prema Meri u nekim trenucima, mozda i neka doza sebicnosti koju sam primetila...
Svakako preporucujem svakom koga zanima nesto vise o zivotu ovog autora.
Ni jedne sekunde mi nije bilo dosadno za citanje, da li je to do stila pisanja ili do zivota Ernesta Hemingveja, ostavljam vama da odlucite, ako je procitate.
May 13, 2021
In the autumn of 1948 Ernest Hemingway, the acclaimed American writer and his fourth wife Mary, left Cuba where they resided and took a luxury liner to Europe for a nostalgic visit to their wartime haunts in France. By a twist of fate, the couple ended up journeying to northern Italy where Hemingway had seen action in WWI, and eventually to Venice. Hemingway was 49 ,but looked much older. He suffered from at least three serious concussions, had been wounded in both world wars, most likely suffered from a form of PTSD and was self-medicating with antidepressants and other drugs. He was also drinking himself to death. Moreover, the author of A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls, hadn't written a bestseller for 10 years and many critics believed he had been surpassed in his art by younger writers like Norman Mailer and James Jones. In truth, Hemingway, though he put up a good front, may have felt the same way. Like many others before and after, he was dancing as fast as he could, and trying to grapple with many demons.
Hemingway loved to hunt and shoot and soon fell in with a group of impoverished but sophisticated Italian aristocrats who took him to places near Venice where he spent many hours indulging in his favourite sport. One day he and his friends stopped to pick up a young woman who needed a lift to the city. She was eighteen and her name was Adriana Ivancich. Though not conventionally beautiful, she possessed a swanlike neck, a lovely complexion and the glow and vitality of youth. Almost instantly Hemingways became obsessed with her, and though he shared a strong if strained bond with his wife, he pursued Adriana mercilessly and without caution.
Adriana was, in turn, taken with Papa as everyone close to Hemingway called him, and met him often for dinner and drinks at Harry's Bar. He spent hours writing letters and notes to her and begging her to marry him or run away with him. What neither of them appeared to realize were the repercussions of their behaviour. Many of Papa's friends and undoubtedly his wife were appalled at his actions and thought of him as an old fool and a lecher. For Adriana, the penalties were more severe. Venice, though sophisticated and olde worlde to the American eye at least, was also a closed and conservative society and Adriana's mother, terrified for her daughter's reputation, desperately tried to warn her, but to little avail.
A few years later Adriana visited the Hemingways in Cuba which produced a very tense and dramatic situation, to say the least. Her brother was living with Hemingway as a guest at the time so the whole affair became a tragic comedy of errors. Hemingway actually wrote a novel Across the River and Into the Trees based on the affair, a book which was almost universally panned by critics. He became almost a laughingstock in the eyes of many.
But the aging writer had at least one more good book in him and the muse in Adriana seemed to awaken his creativity. In the early 1950s, he ptoduced perhaps his most famous work, The Old Man and the Sea. He also turned a long manuscript which he had been trying to finish for years into Islands in the Stream and posthumously, the memoir A Moveable Feast came from this period.
As many know, Papa became embroiled in other misadventures which further endangered his physical and mental health and in 1961 killed himself. As for Adriana, she married twice and bore two sons, but the ill-fated romance and two unhappy marriages left their mark on her. She struggled to paint and write and after a battle with depression died by her own hand in 1983.
Personally I found Hemingway's behaviour appalling. He was bombastic and cruel and often took what we now call toxic masculinity to a new low. Yet to be fair, he was a tormented, lonely soul plagued with demons and illnesses, both psychological and physical. Out of his ridiculous behaviour did come some memorable literature. As for Adriana, her life became one of collateral damage, damage she couldn't or wouldn't repair. This book written by someone connected to Venice and its aristocratic denizens provides the reader with a rueful bittersweet look at a troubled man and his doomed muse.
Hemingway loved to hunt and shoot and soon fell in with a group of impoverished but sophisticated Italian aristocrats who took him to places near Venice where he spent many hours indulging in his favourite sport. One day he and his friends stopped to pick up a young woman who needed a lift to the city. She was eighteen and her name was Adriana Ivancich. Though not conventionally beautiful, she possessed a swanlike neck, a lovely complexion and the glow and vitality of youth. Almost instantly Hemingways became obsessed with her, and though he shared a strong if strained bond with his wife, he pursued Adriana mercilessly and without caution.
Adriana was, in turn, taken with Papa as everyone close to Hemingway called him, and met him often for dinner and drinks at Harry's Bar. He spent hours writing letters and notes to her and begging her to marry him or run away with him. What neither of them appeared to realize were the repercussions of their behaviour. Many of Papa's friends and undoubtedly his wife were appalled at his actions and thought of him as an old fool and a lecher. For Adriana, the penalties were more severe. Venice, though sophisticated and olde worlde to the American eye at least, was also a closed and conservative society and Adriana's mother, terrified for her daughter's reputation, desperately tried to warn her, but to little avail.
A few years later Adriana visited the Hemingways in Cuba which produced a very tense and dramatic situation, to say the least. Her brother was living with Hemingway as a guest at the time so the whole affair became a tragic comedy of errors. Hemingway actually wrote a novel Across the River and Into the Trees based on the affair, a book which was almost universally panned by critics. He became almost a laughingstock in the eyes of many.
But the aging writer had at least one more good book in him and the muse in Adriana seemed to awaken his creativity. In the early 1950s, he ptoduced perhaps his most famous work, The Old Man and the Sea. He also turned a long manuscript which he had been trying to finish for years into Islands in the Stream and posthumously, the memoir A Moveable Feast came from this period.
As many know, Papa became embroiled in other misadventures which further endangered his physical and mental health and in 1961 killed himself. As for Adriana, she married twice and bore two sons, but the ill-fated romance and two unhappy marriages left their mark on her. She struggled to paint and write and after a battle with depression died by her own hand in 1983.
Personally I found Hemingway's behaviour appalling. He was bombastic and cruel and often took what we now call toxic masculinity to a new low. Yet to be fair, he was a tormented, lonely soul plagued with demons and illnesses, both psychological and physical. Out of his ridiculous behaviour did come some memorable literature. As for Adriana, her life became one of collateral damage, damage she couldn't or wouldn't repair. This book written by someone connected to Venice and its aristocratic denizens provides the reader with a rueful bittersweet look at a troubled man and his doomed muse.
December 8, 2020
This is a fascinating look into Ernest Hemingway’s last twenty years, or so. It was meticulously researched by the author, who had amazing access to letters and people never before made public. I couldn’t put it down.
October 1, 2018
It was a matter of time before Andrea di Robilant, writer of Venetian human interest histories, would research Hemingway’s time in Venice. di Robilant had access to letters, diaries and memoirs as well as his own interviews. His family socialized with the Hemingway’s and are part of this story.
In 1947 on a business and pleasure trip to Italy with Mary his 4th wife, Hemingway met his last muse, the teenaged Adriana Ivancich. He was immediately smitten. Because of the prominence of Hemingway and of the Ivancich family, his fascination was very public. Adriana’s mother, Dora, worried about the propriety of being seen as the two of them were... tongues are clearly wagging.
Hemingway made matters worse for Adriana’s reputation and her mother by an invitation to Cuba and later by a novel in which the lead character was a thinly veiled portrait of Adriana. The pressures were so great that Hemingway demanded a halt of the Italian language translation of this novel.
The first part of the book is heavy on where and with whom the Hemingway’s traveled (usually artists and European aristocrats), detail on where they stayed and sometimes what they ate and wore while they skied, hunted, dined and drank. Towards, the middle and the end the drama of the story came together.
We see the strange situation of “Daughter” (as Hemingway called her) and her mother’s dismay. We see that sad, lonely and belittled Mary trying to hold together her marriage and the life she loves (traveling, hunting, fishing, shopping and pre-reading manuscripts). Hemingway, while publically and privately nasty to her claims to love Mary and buys her expensive gifts.
This slice of his life has all the he-man Hemingway scenes: life in Cuba, fishing on Pilar and in Africa, hunting everywhere, skiing, a safari (with 2 plane crashes), bull fighting and drinking scenes. There are revisits to his novel locales, movie negotiations, and cameos for second wife Pauline, his 3 sons, publishers, movie stars and fellow writers.
Hemingway comes off as a sad sack. He is unnecessarily pushes away Mary and his sons. He does not help Greg at a critical time (more on this and another dimension of Hemingway, see "Strange Tribe" by son, John). Through this book you see Hemingway's path to his eventual suicide in 1961. Perhaps Adriana and Hemingway were soul mates, she committed suicide in 1983.
This is a book that has needed to be written, but unless you are into Hemingway it will not pull you in.
With the exception of the audio of “A Farewell to Arms” (which I thought was maudlin), I have never read a Hemingway novel. I’ve read a lot of his life since it touches on so many topics and people of interest.
In 1947 on a business and pleasure trip to Italy with Mary his 4th wife, Hemingway met his last muse, the teenaged Adriana Ivancich. He was immediately smitten. Because of the prominence of Hemingway and of the Ivancich family, his fascination was very public. Adriana’s mother, Dora, worried about the propriety of being seen as the two of them were... tongues are clearly wagging.
Hemingway made matters worse for Adriana’s reputation and her mother by an invitation to Cuba and later by a novel in which the lead character was a thinly veiled portrait of Adriana. The pressures were so great that Hemingway demanded a halt of the Italian language translation of this novel.
The first part of the book is heavy on where and with whom the Hemingway’s traveled (usually artists and European aristocrats), detail on where they stayed and sometimes what they ate and wore while they skied, hunted, dined and drank. Towards, the middle and the end the drama of the story came together.
We see the strange situation of “Daughter” (as Hemingway called her) and her mother’s dismay. We see that sad, lonely and belittled Mary trying to hold together her marriage and the life she loves (traveling, hunting, fishing, shopping and pre-reading manuscripts). Hemingway, while publically and privately nasty to her claims to love Mary and buys her expensive gifts.
This slice of his life has all the he-man Hemingway scenes: life in Cuba, fishing on Pilar and in Africa, hunting everywhere, skiing, a safari (with 2 plane crashes), bull fighting and drinking scenes. There are revisits to his novel locales, movie negotiations, and cameos for second wife Pauline, his 3 sons, publishers, movie stars and fellow writers.
Hemingway comes off as a sad sack. He is unnecessarily pushes away Mary and his sons. He does not help Greg at a critical time (more on this and another dimension of Hemingway, see "Strange Tribe" by son, John). Through this book you see Hemingway's path to his eventual suicide in 1961. Perhaps Adriana and Hemingway were soul mates, she committed suicide in 1983.
This is a book that has needed to be written, but unless you are into Hemingway it will not pull you in.
With the exception of the audio of “A Farewell to Arms” (which I thought was maudlin), I have never read a Hemingway novel. I’ve read a lot of his life since it touches on so many topics and people of interest.
August 12, 2018
After World War II, Ernest Hemingway was in a funk. He was depressed, had writer's block and seems to be regretting marrying his 4th wife Mary Welsh. In an attempt to cheer him up,Mary organizes a motoring tour of the south of France and Italy and in Venice Hemingway met the love 18-year old Adriana who was his muse for his largely regrettable novel Across the River and Into the Trees
It's debatable whether or not Hemingway actually had a sexual relationship with Adriana, but he was clearly smitten and there was a voluminous correspondence between the two with lots of "Papa" and "daughter" blather. (And how did anyone take this blatantly Freudian dialogue seriously?) And why did Mary Welsh stick around? Was she that desperate to be close to fame?
In the end, Hemingway left Adriana's reputation ruined in Venice and like him, she ended her life in suicide. This was just a sad story all around.
It's debatable whether or not Hemingway actually had a sexual relationship with Adriana, but he was clearly smitten and there was a voluminous correspondence between the two with lots of "Papa" and "daughter" blather. (And how did anyone take this blatantly Freudian dialogue seriously?) And why did Mary Welsh stick around? Was she that desperate to be close to fame?
In the end, Hemingway left Adriana's reputation ruined in Venice and like him, she ended her life in suicide. This was just a sad story all around.
February 4, 2023
It peters out for me towards the end -- more a whimper than a bang -- but overall I find this to be a fascinating glimpse into late life Hemmingway, and how his toxic, jealous, unstable masculinity powers and defines his entire psyche.
August 28, 2023
Very interesting book! I genuinely did not know a lot of the things (at least in not such depth) from that period of the life of Hemingway, I kind of know more about his youth and his first two wives, so this was quite refreshing and interesting read. Well researched and well laid out.
June 18, 2020
Loved it every time I picked it up but found it tricky to get through. Really interesting though and would definitely recommend :)
November 13, 2020
3.5 stars. Hard read because of Hemingway's complete disregard for fidelity, family, and someone other than himself.
August 25, 2022
Extra half star for the research and thoroughness of the author. This could've been a nice little biography if the narrative and character study weren't constantly interrupted by useless details.
July 6, 2025
If you are a Hemingway fan, this is a must read. Very interesting and well done. I didn’t know much about Adriana but I enjoyed learning so much about her and the Hemingways.
December 26, 2022
pored toga što je hemingvej žešća žena sumnjivog morala (da ne psujem) knjiga je jako lepo napisana
July 5, 2020
Teško da se knjiga može nazvati romanom. Više je pisana kao hronika posljednih godina života Ernesta Hemingveja. Iako je očigledno zamišljena da prikaže ljubav između matorog Ernesta i vrlo mlade Adrijane knjizi nedostaje emocija. Opisi su trapavi i sve se svodi na nabrajanje činjenica, pa ćemo više saznati što su Ernest i njegova četvrta supruga Meri jeli i pili na nekom putovanju nego kakav je bila veza između Ernesta i njehovih žena. Na osnovu pročitanog da se zaključiti su Ernest i Meri Hemingvej bili obični snobovi, a Adrijana je više kao neki ukras u cijeloj knjizi.
July 16, 2018
This is a non-fiction work by an author who has written several other excellent books that tap into his aristocratic Venetian family history. In this story, his great uncle is a friend of Ernest Hemingway when he visits Venice after the war. The book starts in 1949 and mainly focuses on the post-war years. Hemingway with his 4th wife Mary, traveled to Venice and met and played with many of the old Italian families. He drank with them, hunted with them, skied with them and then drank some more. He met Adrianna a 17-year-old and became smitten. She became his muse and he wrote a novel about their relationship, "Across the River and into the Trees" which was not very well reviewed. (He later would redeem himself with "The Old Man and The Sea" before his death by suicide in 1960.)Through this book you get a real flavor of what his life was like in his later years after he became famous. . Living on the Finca in Cuba, on Safari in Africa, unhappy in a New York apartment, electro-shock treatments at Mayo clinic. He was a big man with a big love of life but also a vindictive, hostile, depressed, narcissistic person. I was fascinated by this story.
July 22, 2018
I have to admit, it's been a long time since I read Carlos Baker's Hemingway Biography. This didn't seem quite on par with that, but like I say, it's been a long time with many, many reading experienced in between. The book was interesting though a little difficult to start. Got much better the more I read. If memory serves me, this book went into much more detail regarding Hemingway's infatuation with Adriana, and it definitely went into to much more detail regarding her. All in all, it was an interesting read if you're into Hemingway.
While Baker's biography gives a more overall story of Hemingway's life this focused mostly on Adriana. I also believe this was darker that Baker's book.
While Baker's biography gives a more overall story of Hemingway's life this focused mostly on Adriana. I also believe this was darker that Baker's book.
October 15, 2018
This was a delightful read for me. It was very well written and read like a novel. I could hardly put it down. I read Across the River and Into the Trees a few years ago. I think that it was one of the worst books I have ever read. So, its interesting to find that the relationship described in that book actually existed. I am not surprised, however, because pretty much all of Hemingway’s novels are based on his real life, or in the case of For Whom the Bell Tolls, on somebody he would like to be. I basically do not like Hemingway’s writing at all, but I love reading about him. He was a very interesting person, and lived quite a life.
January 24, 2019
A compelling story, but the author can’t write about the main woman character without repeatedly describing her physical appearance. I’m used to this in older books, but in 2018 we should be moving away from this. How does he know how beautiful her eyes were or the shape of her legs?
If you don’t know much about Hemingway, prepare to discover he was an egomaniac who fed off destroying the lives of women who loved him and couldn’t live up to his own image.
Despite that, the book brought me to tears in the last chapter and epilogue. The author write as tragic of a love story as you can find anywhere.
If you don’t know much about Hemingway, prepare to discover he was an egomaniac who fed off destroying the lives of women who loved him and couldn’t live up to his own image.
Despite that, the book brought me to tears in the last chapter and epilogue. The author write as tragic of a love story as you can find anywhere.
July 22, 2018
After you enjoy the sense of the American & Brits of The Venice.... the first pass through, you just get bored.. well, I got bored, to be more exact and I LOVE Venice and the writings of di Robilant so, I am disappointed but still, a fan and look forward to The Next Great di Robilant Book. It's not this one, alas.
September 13, 2018
Wonderful book, inspiring..this was so good it made me want to write short stories about my adventures in Germany, France, Italy, etc. Just the best!
March 3, 2019
Very readable and well researched. A must for any Hemingway aficionado.
January 12, 2019
A Reminder of the Sad Final Decline
A review of the Audible Audio edition narrated by P.J. Ochlan
Relatively speaking, the material about the platonic friendship between writer Ernest Hemingway and his younger-by-30-years muse Adriana Ivancich is probably only about 15-20% of this book. A great deal of time is spent on summarizing such things as Hemingway's previous travels to Italy and about life in America & Cuba and the perilous final African safari with 2 plane crashes of early 1954.
49-year-old Hemingway met the then 18-year-old Ivancich while on a duck hunting trip to Venice in 1948. His infatuation became quite obsessive, even though it was mostly always chaperoned by her mother or her girlfriend. The relationship that couldn't be realized in real-life became a fantasy created in his final novel published in his lifetime "Across the River and Into the Trees" (1950). The cringe-worthy love story and writing was almost universally panned and was the subject of a savage parody in " Across the Street and Into the Grill " (The New Yorker Oct. 14, 1950) by E.B. White with his own (possibly alcohol influenced) befuddledness observed in " How Do You Like It Now, Gentlemen? " (The New Yorker May 13, 1950) by Lillian Ross.
Despite the failure of the novel, Hemingway pushed on to write the novella "The Old Man and the Sea" (1952), supposedly to redeem himself in the eyes of his muse during a 3-month period in late 1951/early 1952 that she spent in Cuba with her mother and brother as guests of the Hemingways. During that time, he worked in the white tower extension of the Hemingway's Finca Vigia home in Cuba where Adriana had a separate room to work on her painting and poetry. Adriana's own memoir of that time "La torre bianca" (The White Tower) (1980) is occasionally quoted here, as is wife Mary Hemingway's memoir "How It Was" (1976). Understandably, Mary is bitter about the pain and embarrassment brought on by the extra-marital relationship. Adriana is always well-meaning about Mary though and apparently regularly spoke up on her behalf to Hemingway himself.
That final flowering in the novella did help him to secure the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and the Nobel Prize in 1954. All other works from the last 2 decades have had to be shaped by editors before obtaining posthumous release.
Journalist and historian Andrea di Robilant has a familial tie-in to the story as his relative Carlo di Robilant was one of Hemingway's Venetian cronies who is occasionally mentioned in this book. The book here is well done, but it is still ultimately a sad reminder of the writer's decline and the final tragedies that were yet to come for everyone (no spoilers here).
A review of the Audible Audio edition narrated by P.J. Ochlan
Relatively speaking, the material about the platonic friendship between writer Ernest Hemingway and his younger-by-30-years muse Adriana Ivancich is probably only about 15-20% of this book. A great deal of time is spent on summarizing such things as Hemingway's previous travels to Italy and about life in America & Cuba and the perilous final African safari with 2 plane crashes of early 1954.
49-year-old Hemingway met the then 18-year-old Ivancich while on a duck hunting trip to Venice in 1948. His infatuation became quite obsessive, even though it was mostly always chaperoned by her mother or her girlfriend. The relationship that couldn't be realized in real-life became a fantasy created in his final novel published in his lifetime "Across the River and Into the Trees" (1950). The cringe-worthy love story and writing was almost universally panned and was the subject of a savage parody in " Across the Street and Into the Grill " (The New Yorker Oct. 14, 1950) by E.B. White with his own (possibly alcohol influenced) befuddledness observed in " How Do You Like It Now, Gentlemen? " (The New Yorker May 13, 1950) by Lillian Ross.
Despite the failure of the novel, Hemingway pushed on to write the novella "The Old Man and the Sea" (1952), supposedly to redeem himself in the eyes of his muse during a 3-month period in late 1951/early 1952 that she spent in Cuba with her mother and brother as guests of the Hemingways. During that time, he worked in the white tower extension of the Hemingway's Finca Vigia home in Cuba where Adriana had a separate room to work on her painting and poetry. Adriana's own memoir of that time "La torre bianca" (The White Tower) (1980) is occasionally quoted here, as is wife Mary Hemingway's memoir "How It Was" (1976). Understandably, Mary is bitter about the pain and embarrassment brought on by the extra-marital relationship. Adriana is always well-meaning about Mary though and apparently regularly spoke up on her behalf to Hemingway himself.
That final flowering in the novella did help him to secure the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 and the Nobel Prize in 1954. All other works from the last 2 decades have had to be shaped by editors before obtaining posthumous release.
Journalist and historian Andrea di Robilant has a familial tie-in to the story as his relative Carlo di Robilant was one of Hemingway's Venetian cronies who is occasionally mentioned in this book. The book here is well done, but it is still ultimately a sad reminder of the writer's decline and the final tragedies that were yet to come for everyone (no spoilers here).
April 12, 2021
When I learned that PBS was airing a new documentary a new Ken Burns/Lynn Novick about Nobel Prize in Literature writer and all around man’s man, Ernest Hemingway, I pulled this book off my shelf, where it’s been sitting, patiently, since 2018.
I won’t say that I am a huge fan of Hemingway’s. I don’t enjoy his writing style. It’s too sparse and the action moves to slow…ironic for a man who constantly craved action. Well, there is the exception of The Old Man and The Sea. That I loved. I had hoped that the book would help me understand more about the man before the documentary aired…and it did.
It starts in the fall of 1948 when Papa and his fourth, and last, wife, Mary visit Venice for the first time. There the fifty-year-old Ernest meets Adriana Ivancich, an eighteen-year-old woman, girl really, who had just graduated from a convent school. He fell head over heels in love. The documentary didn’t delve too far below the surface of their relationship, which was rather disturbing. He called her “Daughter,” and she called him “Papa.”
From what I’ve read, in this book and others, Hemingway loved to be in love. It stoked his creative juices, caused him to dig deeper to find the words that gave the world classics like A Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises and many others.
Author di Robilant does a remarkable job in only 368 pages. He manages to give readers a full biography of the man while maintaining his focus on Adriana. The couple didn’t seem to have a physical relationship, but more of a visceral one. He craved her youth, her vitality, her beauty.
Before Ernest met Adriana, his career seemed washed over. He was not writing and publishing as he had in his younger days. I can’t help but wonder if she was his motivation for rising every morning to go to his writing room and write.
As the years rolled by, Adriana was always in his heart, soul and mind. Even as his life began to spiral out of control due to a family history of mental illness, several traumatic brain injuries/concussions and alcoholism, she seemed to be the one where his sight landed.
Autumn in Venice: Ernest Hemingway and His Last Muse is a wonderful read and really gives the reader insights into the man. I was sometimes lost in the first few chapters as Ernest and Mary traveled through Italy and France---I didn’t recognize any of the town names. Therefore, Autumn in Venice: Ernest Hemingway and His Last Muse receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.
I won’t say that I am a huge fan of Hemingway’s. I don’t enjoy his writing style. It’s too sparse and the action moves to slow…ironic for a man who constantly craved action. Well, there is the exception of The Old Man and The Sea. That I loved. I had hoped that the book would help me understand more about the man before the documentary aired…and it did.
It starts in the fall of 1948 when Papa and his fourth, and last, wife, Mary visit Venice for the first time. There the fifty-year-old Ernest meets Adriana Ivancich, an eighteen-year-old woman, girl really, who had just graduated from a convent school. He fell head over heels in love. The documentary didn’t delve too far below the surface of their relationship, which was rather disturbing. He called her “Daughter,” and she called him “Papa.”
From what I’ve read, in this book and others, Hemingway loved to be in love. It stoked his creative juices, caused him to dig deeper to find the words that gave the world classics like A Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises and many others.
Author di Robilant does a remarkable job in only 368 pages. He manages to give readers a full biography of the man while maintaining his focus on Adriana. The couple didn’t seem to have a physical relationship, but more of a visceral one. He craved her youth, her vitality, her beauty.
Before Ernest met Adriana, his career seemed washed over. He was not writing and publishing as he had in his younger days. I can’t help but wonder if she was his motivation for rising every morning to go to his writing room and write.
As the years rolled by, Adriana was always in his heart, soul and mind. Even as his life began to spiral out of control due to a family history of mental illness, several traumatic brain injuries/concussions and alcoholism, she seemed to be the one where his sight landed.
Autumn in Venice: Ernest Hemingway and His Last Muse is a wonderful read and really gives the reader insights into the man. I was sometimes lost in the first few chapters as Ernest and Mary traveled through Italy and France---I didn’t recognize any of the town names. Therefore, Autumn in Venice: Ernest Hemingway and His Last Muse receives 4 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.
November 11, 2020
Another book I listened to on Audible. Avoid the audible version, if you are committed to reading this book. The topic is of interest to me, as I find Hemingway's life story and the people he got involved with fascinating. I learned more about him. I have read the "Paris Wife" which covered his first marriage with Hadley and this book shed some light around his last decade with Mary (his last wife) and his muse, a very young girl from Venice, who apparently inspired him with a platonic relationship when he was at the end of his ropes as an author. "The Old Man and the Sea" apparently was a byproduct of the inspiration and her company in Cuba. Very very complicated love triangle with Hemingway in the middle. I felt for both his wife and the young woman. Hemingway was bipolar, and you can see the effects of his genius gift driven by this illness woven into this dramatic turn of events. I would not want to cross ways with Hemingway as a female, as I believe there seemed to be an impossible to resist charm and guaranteed unhappiness and demise if he were to be interested in you. I wish the book went a bit deeper into the Adriana's character. It was a 10+ hour listen and it was so packed with a lot of things, I understand the authors challenge to go deeper on it. Apparently both Mary and Adriana wrote their own autobiographies surrounding their involvement with Hemingway. I may squeeze those in sometime later to see each of their perspectives. I was sad that Adriana ended up ending her life down the road. There probably is a lot there to understand.
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May 10, 2025The subject of the book is off putting, a 50 year old rich, drunken celebrity charms an 18 year old girl and they have an intimate, perhaps not sexual, relationship that spans several years.
I found the book engaging and fascinating as well as disturbing. Given his artistic status, his wealth and the times there were no brakes on Hemingway and he seems to have given his formidable imagination free rein to charm her and to cast this girl as his one true love and muse. Adriana's expression of her crush on Hemingway was a revelation of young female infatuation. She was articulate and not a half bad poet. Hemingway's wife Mary was fascinating as well. She was a good writer herself, in my view her description of the events in her journal are the clearest description of the three. But like Hemingway, her motives and values were incomprehensible to me. It's a portrait of a time when boxing and boozing and shooting animals to pass the time were if not normal, not seen as strange.
There seems to be no denying that his relationship with Adriana had a positive effect on his work. But I think at great cost to all involved.
The story is well told. It is a fine portrait of a time that is past. It is a troubling, ambiguous story but it seems that many good stories are troubling and don't end well.
I found the book engaging and fascinating as well as disturbing. Given his artistic status, his wealth and the times there were no brakes on Hemingway and he seems to have given his formidable imagination free rein to charm her and to cast this girl as his one true love and muse. Adriana's expression of her crush on Hemingway was a revelation of young female infatuation. She was articulate and not a half bad poet. Hemingway's wife Mary was fascinating as well. She was a good writer herself, in my view her description of the events in her journal are the clearest description of the three. But like Hemingway, her motives and values were incomprehensible to me. It's a portrait of a time when boxing and boozing and shooting animals to pass the time were if not normal, not seen as strange.
There seems to be no denying that his relationship with Adriana had a positive effect on his work. But I think at great cost to all involved.
The story is well told. It is a fine portrait of a time that is past. It is a troubling, ambiguous story but it seems that many good stories are troubling and don't end well.
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