They say that this is a semi auto biographical work - Hemingway served in the World War I as an ambulance driver, met this young nurse, fell in love and it did not go right.
In the novel we have a young American who is fluent in Italian fighting on behalf of Italy in the World War I. He meets a young English nurse and falls in love and she with him. Before they can take their story further he gets injured in war. She comes to the hospital he is admitted in and nurses him. They make love and she gets pregnant. The lieutenant then participates in a retreat, is almost shot by the military police for deserting the army, escapes, meets his love again, then escape to Switzerland together. She is ready to deliver little Catherine when things go awry.
One gets a peek into the world war, the young soldiers, their lives, their fears, the trauma they live with. One also gets a peek into love and loss. Quite fascinating to see the amount of dialogue he used in this book. Catherine is brilliant with her 'lovely' and 'sweet' and her English ways of speaking. And as she lays dying she says - you won't do our things with other girls will you? Do other things with them. You must find other girls.
Sweet.
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