Kelsey Mangeni (kman.reads) asked Paula McLain:

I cannot wait until whenever you come out with your next book! I am a huge fan of your books after reading Circling the Sun. It spoke to me especially as a woman currently living in East Africa. Did you travel to Kenya when you were writing that one? Also, what made you decide to write two novels about wives of Ernest Hemingway? Was it hard to keep them separate in your mind while you were writing?

Paula McLain Hello, Kelsey. Thanks so much for reading, and for your question. I DID travel to Africa, and it was absolutely mind blowing. I went to Karen Blixen's home outside Nairobi, and visited Denys Finch-Hatton's grave; went horse-back riding in the bush, and flying in a vintage open-air bi-plane. But the highlight, perhaps, was staying overnight in the cottage Beryl's father built for her when she was fourteen. It's still there, and so is the horse farm. Amazing.

As for Hemingway, I didn't really "decide" to write about a second wife as much as I was lured in by Martha herself, and her unbelievable accomplishments as a journalist and war correspondent. Because so much time had passed since writing The Paris Wife, and since Hadley and Martha are SUCH different women, it wasn't difficult to keep them straight. Though I resisted the idea at first, it ended up being really interesting to revisit Hemingway at a later point in his life, when he was arguably the most famous writer in America, and still battling his demons.

Thanks again for thinking to reach me here, and for reading with care.

Paula

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