In 1937, nervous but determined to succeed, Martha Gellhorn travels alone to Madrid to report on the atrocities of the Spanish Civil War, and finds herself drawn to the stories of ordinary people caught in devastating conflict. She also finds herself unexpectedly--and uncontrollably--falling in love with Ernest Hemingway, a man already on his way to becoming a legend. In the shadow of the impending Second World War, and set against the tumultuous backdrops of Madrid, Finland, China, Key West and especially Cuba, where Martha and Ernest made their home, their relationship and professional careers ignite. But when Ernest publishes the biggest literary success of his career, For Whom the Bell Tolls, they are no longer equals, and Martha must make a choice: surrender to the suffocating demands of a domestic lifestyle, or risk losing her husband by forging a path as her own woman and writer. It is a dilemma that will force her to break his heart, or her own.