The Impact of Child Abuse

Hadley Richardson and Ernest Hemingway, the two main characters in "The Paris Wife," had many areas in which they had little in common. Ernest was blustery and charming and aggressive. She was retiring and unsure and passive. However, one common bond that the couple had was that they both had childhoods that had long-lasting impacts on their lives and relationships.

Today, the way Hadley was treated by her mother would probably be called emotional child abuse. Her mother, Florence, blatantly favored other siblings over Hadley. Florence was bent on having Hadley, her youngest child, remain dependent on her. After losing her husband, perhaps Florence was afraid of being alone and wanted to keep her youngest child with her. Even on her deathbed, she couldn't give her daughter a break. Florence claimed she contacted Dorothy, an older daughter who had died nine years before, in...