Hemingway's Girl

July 9, 2012
Robuck drops the fictional 19-year-old Mariella Bennet into the life of Ernest Hemingway in her richly realized newest (after Receive Me Falling), set in Depression-era Key West, Fla. Mariella’s father has just died. In order to raise money to care for her mother and sisters, Mariella bets on a boxing match refereed by Hemingway. Though she loses the bet, Mariella befriends the famous writer and is hired as a housemaid for Hemingway and his second wife, Pauline. Soon after, Mariella and Papa Hemingway attend another bout where one of the fighters, WWI veteran and Overseas Highway worker Gavin Murray, becomes smitten with Mariella. As she struggles to balance her fascination with the Hemingways’ glamorous life and the prospect of settling down with Gavin, an enormous hurricane careens toward the Keys. As the winds pick up and the rains fall down, tensions rise and Mariella must choose which way to run. Robuck brings Key West to life, and her Hemingway is fully fleshed out and believable, as are Mariella and others. Readers will delight in the complex relationships and vivid setting. Agent: Kevan Lyon, Marsal Lyon Literary.

July 1, 2012
Mariella Bennet and her father shared a deep love of the sea, but her dream of one day running a charter boat business floundered when he was found dead. Robuck's second novel (after Receive Me Falling, 2009), set in Depression-era Key West, follows Mariella as she lives by her wits to support her family. One evening, in hopes of augmenting her paltry earnings, she dresses in her father's old clothes and places a risky bet on the underdog in a boxing match, WWI veteran Gavin Murray, who is working nearby on the Overseas Highway. She loses the bet but captures his attention as well as that of Ernest Hemingway, Key West's most notorious resident. All their lives are intertwined from that night forward. They have more in common than she knows. Hired as a maid in the hot-blooded Hemingway household, Mariella learns to navigate the complicated allure of his interest while maintaining her own fierce heart. She weathers many storms with feisty strength and a memorable clarity, coming to recognize the many faces of true love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)