Autunno a Venezia, Hemingway e l'ultima Musa Autumn in Venice Hemingway and his Last Muse by Andrea Di Robilant

The saddest story of this book is that the central protagonists of this story at the end will choose to kill themselves. They lost their war against life; a game that no one will win, but that, in this sense, when suicide is chosen, considered the only possible escapism to the brutality and ugliness of the world, presents a biggest sense of solitude and sadness.

It's the first time, after a lot of books written by Americans and so with an American perspective regarding Ernest Hemingway, that I read with joy a book by an italian author; I recognize our personal touch, our thoughts, our way of thinking and communicating with Americans, and I liked it a lot.

Autunno a Venezia, Hemingway e l'ultima Musa Autumn in Venice Hemingway and his Last Muse by Andrea Di Robilant traces an interesting chapter of the tormented life of Ernest Hemingway: his devastating love for Adriana Ivancich.

Ernest Hemingway at that time was married with his fourth wife Mary Welsh and decided to visit Italy another time.
At first the couple had decided of spending some time in sunny Provence where their friends, once left Paris, enjoyed their vacations; but then, Ernest Hemingway conquered again by Italy once he visited again the old places where he lived in and where he fought during the first world war conflict, decided to remain.

Not only: the arrival of Hemingway was lived by the important Italians of that time with great joy and enthusiasm and in this, I recognized the italian amiability and enchantment that we all live when we have in front of us a very important person.

For Hemingway, this visit meant also the discovery of his italian publishers of his books, Einaudi and Mondadori.

Hemingway wasn't an author pretty appreciated by fascists, because without too many compliments he didn't speak at all well of Mussolini in his articles; but Mondadori and Einaudi published some of his books and no one, no one of these publishing houses wanted to leave Hemingway alone.

Hemingway was a viveur with a bad character.
He drunk too much, he was surrounded by a lot of women, he was an avid hunter, he loved guns, traveling, living in Cuba, where it was perennially warm, he loved Paris, but sure, his talent was recognized.
After all, we can say that Hemingway lived his life in the way he wanted to live it. This one is a privilege, after all.

Although affectionate to Einaudi, considering that the publishing house after the last second world war conflict was more close at the Communist Party, Hemingway preferred to speak much more with Mondadori close to American positions, although he received royalties from both these publishing houses and Einaudi courted him so badly.

He was writing a book at the time of his arrival in Italy but he didn't know yet what kind of direction would have taken his inspiration; italian publishers were all waiting for this new success and Einaudi and Mondadori ready to fights for obtaining the italian rights.

The encounter with Adriana, this young and enchanting Venetian girl helped him a lot in this sense; it was a scandal, although not at all for the protagonists. Ernest and Adriana were both relaxed, happy and cheerful for their relationship, to my point of view. Adriana was supported by Hemingway; Hemingway discovered with Adriana new inspiration and this meant new success, great books and honors.

Venice is big but people love gossip; plus the city has a certain morality and Hemingway was an aficionados of places like the Harry's Bar by Cipriani where he spent most of the time. He was spotted a lot of times in company of this young girl; he didn't mind; he didn't notice that people were talking; and people at first, true, talked, but didn't understand the profundity of the feelings experienced by the middle-age man in crisis, searching for a youngest girl, without any pale idea of leaving his wife.

Mary, his wife, was one of the ones who, at first didn't understand.
Jealous of other prominent women Hemingway loved to spend time with, at first didn't take in consideration Adriana, as later she was constricted to do.

Hemingway in fact didn't hide at all his love for Adriana; Adriana was in his mind all the time; the story became public. He also insisted, when the publication of one of his books imminent, of adding as a cover a painting created by Adriana, with great disappointment of mr.Scribner the founder of the American publishing house devoted to Hemingway; it wasn't the case.

Hemingway did all his best for inviting to Cuba Adriana and the mother; the mother talking with mrs. Mary asked if they were married. Who knows if she was hoping for her daughter the union with Hemingway or just happy Mary and Ernest  were not united through a religious wedding? We won't never discover it.

Anyway, tired of the behavior of her husband, Mary will start an affair with one of their collaborators.

Hemingway was generous with Adriana, sending her a lot of money, trying to develop for her a potential career in the American publishing industry.

Their correspondence is plenty of love, passion and desire.

But...

Once, the girl, Hemingway had just won the Pulitzer and Nobel with The Old Man and the Sea and was thrilled for his success, communicated him through a letter that she was engaged, and her boyfriend asked her of interrupting their correspondence.

Ernest Hemingway understood that this one was the end of his privileged dialogue and intense passion with and for this girl.

Adriana, once, sold the letters of her correspondence with Hemingway through Christie's but strangely without earning a lot of money, and later published a biography where a central role was played by the beloved  author.

This book is vivacious, plenty of facts, anecdotes, writers, editors, publishers of that time, and the life of the big writer Ernest Hemingway is described in all its grandeur, confusion, trips, encountering.
Hemingway loved company and when he felt that he was in good company he was a great friend, but he also loved spending time with common people; after all he was a reporter and he was an observer of the reality.
He was someone with a burning fire for life; a burning fire, that,  for a reason or another once gone will "constrict" him of killing himself, because not anymore in grade to write as he did in the past.

Strong book, but also the portrait of creativity in motion when love, or joy or happiness are in the life of a creative.

Highly recommended.

All the correspondence written by Ernest Hemingway is located at the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library of Boston.

I thank Corbaccio for the physical copy of this book.

Anna Maria Polidori