Across the River and Into the Trees

In the fall of 1948 Hemingway spent several months in Italy on his first extended visit to that country in 30 years. His reacquaintance with Venice, a city he loved, provided the inspiration for ACROSS THE RIVER AND INTO THE TREES.

It is the poignant story of Richard Cantwell, an American officer haunted by his experiences in WW II, and a young Italian countess. She kindles in him the hope of renewal. Hemingway wrote with such force and vividness that the book seemed to cast a shadow ahead, and indeed it was the last of his full-length novels published in his lifetime.

Reviewing the book in The New York Times, John O'Hara was moved to call Hemingway "the most important author since Shakespeare."