What was Hemingway's first major published novel?

Hemingway's first major published novel was The Sun Also Rises. Published in 1926, it follows a group of American and British expatriates traveling from Paris to Spain for the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona.

The novel drew heavily on Hemingway's experiences in 1920s Paris and on a 1925 trip to Pamplona. Its characters reflect people in his expatriate circle, making it a roman à clef, or a novel based partly on real individuals and events. The book helped establish Hemingway's distinctive style: short declarative sentences, restrained description, and emotional meaning conveyed through what remains unsaid.

The Sun Also Rises is closely associated with the “Lost Generation,” a phrase used in the novel's epigraph and linked to Gertrude Stein. A common mix-up is The Torrents of Spring, which Hemingway wrote and published around the same period; it is generally classified as a satirical novella, while The Sun Also Rises is recognized as his first novel and breakthrough work.