Following a group of expatriates in Europe after the devastation of World War I, the novel traces the doomed love story of Jake Barnes, a veteran wrestling with wounds both physical and emotional, and the beautiful Lady Brett Ashley. As they drift from the hedonistic nightlife of Paris to the macho world of bullfighting in Spain, these members of the Lost Generation face the loss of their illusions and the impossibility of love. Closely based on true people and events Hemingway experienced as an ex-patin Europe, this debut novel marked the arrival of a towering talent.