Buzz
In the early summer of 1926, Hadley, Hemingway's first wife, found herself quarantined in France with their son, who had come down with whooping cough. On May 21, she sent a letter to Hemingway, who was in Spain at the time, revealing that she had invited an unexpected visitor to stay with them: Pauline Pfeiffer, Hemingway's mistress.
As recounted by Lesley M. M. Blume for Town & Country, the ensuing weeks were marked by an unusual living arrangement. Hemingway, Hadley, Pfeiffer, their sick child, and his nurse shared the confined space, with occasional visits from F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.
A photograph of Hadley, Ernest, and Jack "Bumby" Hemingway taken in spring 1926. | John F. Kennedy Library, Ernest Hemingway Collection, Wikimedia Commons // Public DomainBy 1926, the Hemingways had already spent several years in Paris. Hadley had recently learned of her husband's affair with Pfeiffer, a vibrant and fashionable Vogue editor, contrasting sharply with Hadley's more reserved and traditional demeanor. Despite her unhappiness, Hadley resigned herself to the fact that Hemingway intended to maintain both relationships.
As Hemingway traveled to Madrid to watch bullfights, Hadley and their 3-year-old son, Jack (affectionately called “Bumby”), moved into a luxurious villa in Antibes, France, owned by expatriates Gerald and Sara Murphy. However, when Bumby contracted whooping cough, doctors recommended isolation. Hadley, Bumby, and his nurse relocated to a smaller property in Antibes, rented to them by the Fitzgeralds, another American couple.
Hadley informed Hemingway that she had invited Pfeiffer to join them, describing it as a "swell joke on tout le monde" if the three of them spent the summer together. Pfeiffer arrived in Antibes, followed by Hemingway. Remarkably, the acclaimed author found the small two-bedroom house an ideal writing space. The group spent their evenings hosting cocktail parties in the front yard, with the Fitzgeralds and Murphys maintaining a safe distance on the other side of the fence.
A photograph from 1926 shows Gerald and Sara Murphy, Pauline Pfeiffer, and Ernest and Hadley Hemingway seated around a table in Spain. | John F. Kennedy Library, Ernest Hemingway Collection, Wikimedia Commons // Public DomainThankfully, Bumby recovered within a few weeks, and the group moved to a hotel. Pfeiffer remained closely involved; according to Hadley, she often joined the Hemingways in bed for breakfast. What began as a humorous experiment became too overwhelming for Hadley and Hemingway's already strained marriage, leading to their divorce in January 1927. Hemingway married Pfeiffer later that year, though this union also ended when he met Martha Gellhorn, another brilliant American writer.
For more intriguing and sometimes scandalous insights into Hemingway’s early career, explore Blume’s book Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway’s Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises.
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