When the nineteen year old Ernest Hemingway returned from World War One he was seriously wounded both in body and in spirit. But he was in love. That gave him hope. So when Agnes broke it off more was at stake than just a broken heart. The returning young man could not go back being the boy he was. Walking with a cane helped him recover physically. But his broken heart and the psychological wounds of war were far greater and deeper. His confrontation with his own mortality at such a young age scars him profoundly. Cast adrift with all secure anchors destroyed the only thing he knew for sure was that he wanted to be a writer, whatever that took. The struggle to find that path proved difficult. While his stories were being continuously rejected Ernest tried to find his way by struggling with his own physical and mental recovery, watching his beloved father's declining health, his mother's overbearing power, clashing with family and friends and stumbling through several unfulfilled romances. He found solace in camping and fishing, escape, but also important support from cherished friends. And all the while he forged in his mind the stories, the themes, and the insights he continuously crafted into his increasingly disciplined fiction. But when he met Hadley Richardson love returned with a passionate fury. At his side she gave him the energy and courage to take the bold step of leaving all behind and forge forward into his destiny to become the Ernest Hemingway we know today.