Ernest Hemingway's passion was writing, and he was inspired by a lifetime of daring adventures and encouraged by the many women in his life. His masculine, adventurous spirit appealed to women of all ages, including four wives and a long list of legendary actresses, and he frequently transformed the women in his life into memorable fictional characters.

In 1950, Hemingway told Marlene Dietrich that he truly loved only five women. Who were these women and why did he love them? Some of them may have included his wives, but there were others too, among them Agnes von Kurowsky. Through quotations from his works and personal letters, Hemingway scholar Nancy W. Sindelar captures Hemingway's life and romantic adventures, revealing his own feelings about his romantic relationships and the ways his experiences with women appear in his literary works.

Much has been written about Hemingway, but to date no book has linked the women he loved to his written work. The stories of Hemingway's romantic relationships reveal not only the influence these women had on his writing but also his personal ambition, heartbreak, and literary triumphs and trials. Sindelar's provocative analyses of Hemingway's literature give fresh insight into the life of a legendary author, outdoorsman, adventurer, and lover.