After earning his master's degree, he moved to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. While there, he married the novelist Dorothy Baker, and met and was influenced by Ernest Hemingway and Ford Madox Ford, who helped him to publish his first work, the autobiographical novel Orange Valley (1931).
Following his graduation, he relocated to Paris to study at the Sorbonne. During his time there, he wedded the novelist Dorothy Baker, and encountered and was influenced by Ernest Hemingway and Ford Madox Ford, who assisted him in publishing his inaugural work, the autobiographical novel Orange Valley (1931).