A few years ago, I watched the TV miniseries Z: The Beginning of Everything which was based on this novel by Fowler. I enjoyed the miniseries and had been interested in the Fitzgeralds for years (although I have only read The Great Gatsby by him) so when I saw a copy of this book at a thrift store, I grabbed it. However, it did take me another few years to get to it.
Anyway, I enjoyed this for the most part. It is a novel told from Zelda's perspective starting with her meeting with Scott in her hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, when he was in the military waiting to be deployed during WWI. Fortunately for him, the war ended before he could see action. But he hadn't forgotten his infatuation with Zelda and soon they were married. Zelda tells of his struggles writing and his unfortunate struggles with alcohol. The Fitzgeralds move to New York and then later head to Europe and become acquainted with the other expatriates living in Paris including Ernest Hemingway. Zelda blames Hemingway for most of their troubles after that. Scott seems to be enchanted by him and Hemingway is really a bad influence on him. At one point Zelda infers that the two of them had a homosexual affair (not sure if this is true or not). As time goes by, Scott struggles with his writing and becomes more and more an alcoholic. Zelda in the meantime wants a career of her own. She really wanted to be a ballet dancer and takes lessons while in Europe. She is offered a place in a ballet company in Italy but Scott vetoes this and threatens to keep their young daughter away from her. Zelda is also a writer and has stories and a novel published which seems to make Scott jealous. She is also an artist and later has a showing of her works in New York. But along the way she has a breakdown and spends many years in mental institutions. She is diagnosed as schizophrenic but she was probably misdiagnosed and may have been bipolar. Scott died of a heart attack at the age of 44 which was probably a result of his alcohol abuse. Zelda also died young at age 47 and her death could have been related to uncalled for treatments at mental institutions.
This was really a quite tragic story. Since this is a fictionalized account, I'm not sure how much of the story is true but I know the author researched her story well using historic documents. In her afterword, she says there are two camps relating to the Fitzgeralds. One camp believe that Zelda was instrumental in ruining Scott's career as a writer while the other blames Scott for keeping Zelda from meeting her potential.
The Fitzgeralds are buried in the family plot at St. Mary's Church in Rockville, Maryland. My family actually lived in Rockville and attended St. Mary's when I was working in D.C. for the government for 13 years. We remember visiting the gravesite which also enhanced my interest in the Fitzgeralds.
At some point, I really need to read more of both Scott and Zelda's works. I have read The Paris Wife by Paula McLain which is a novelization of Hemingway's marriage to his first wife, Hadley, and their time in Paris. Z fits in well with it. But I also need to read Hemingway's memoir, A Moveable Feast to get his perspective on his time there.
Anyway, I enjoyed this for the most part. It is a novel told from Zelda's perspective starting with her meeting with Scott in her hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, when he was in the military waiting to be deployed during WWI. Fortunately for him, the war ended before he could see action. But he hadn't forgotten his infatuation with Zelda and soon they were married. Zelda tells of his struggles writing and his unfortunate struggles with alcohol. The Fitzgeralds move to New York and then later head to Europe and become acquainted with the other expatriates living in Paris including Ernest Hemingway. Zelda blames Hemingway for most of their troubles after that. Scott seems to be enchanted by him and Hemingway is really a bad influence on him. At one point Zelda infers that the two of them had a homosexual affair (not sure if this is true or not). As time goes by, Scott struggles with his writing and becomes more and more an alcoholic. Zelda in the meantime wants a career of her own. She really wanted to be a ballet dancer and takes lessons while in Europe. She is offered a place in a ballet company in Italy but Scott vetoes this and threatens to keep their young daughter away from her. Zelda is also a writer and has stories and a novel published which seems to make Scott jealous. She is also an artist and later has a showing of her works in New York. But along the way she has a breakdown and spends many years in mental institutions. She is diagnosed as schizophrenic but she was probably misdiagnosed and may have been bipolar. Scott died of a heart attack at the age of 44 which was probably a result of his alcohol abuse. Zelda also died young at age 47 and her death could have been related to uncalled for treatments at mental institutions.
This was really a quite tragic story. Since this is a fictionalized account, I'm not sure how much of the story is true but I know the author researched her story well using historic documents. In her afterword, she says there are two camps relating to the Fitzgeralds. One camp believe that Zelda was instrumental in ruining Scott's career as a writer while the other blames Scott for keeping Zelda from meeting her potential.
The Fitzgeralds are buried in the family plot at St. Mary's Church in Rockville, Maryland. My family actually lived in Rockville and attended St. Mary's when I was working in D.C. for the government for 13 years. We remember visiting the gravesite which also enhanced my interest in the Fitzgeralds.
At some point, I really need to read more of both Scott and Zelda's works. I have read The Paris Wife by Paula McLain which is a novelization of Hemingway's marriage to his first wife, Hadley, and their time in Paris. Z fits in well with it. But I also need to read Hemingway's memoir, A Moveable Feast to get his perspective on his time there.
Therese Anne Fowlers Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald is a fictional work, based on documents from the Fitzgeralds themselves, that chronicles the life of Zelda Fitzgerald (Sayre) from the time right before she meets F. Scott Fitzgerald until briefly after his death. We follow her from her hometown in Montgomery, Alabama, to New York City, to Paris and beyond. Her life is one of luxury, parties, and perfect happinessuntil it isnt.
Overall, I felt that this book was well researched and written. In the middle of the book, I felt quite bored with the story. Reflecting back on it now, I feel that boredom may be exactly what Fowler intended, as its around that time that there is a significant change in Zelda. Shes starting to become disillusioned with her husband; a man whos never home, promises to finish writing things and never does, drinks too much, and thinks largely of only his interests. Shes bored with lazy days spent on the beach or shopping and raucous nights filled with people and booze.
Ive given it three stars for 2 reasons. First, while I understand wanting to be as thorough and accurate as possible, I thought the book could have been a bit shorter. Second, the story was not as interesting as I originally thought it would be, but you should not hold that against the book; perhaps it was just not a great choice on my part.
I would recommend this book to those of you who enjoy romantic historical fiction, as well as to anyone who wants to get a glimpse of what it was like to be the wife of a famous (or infamous, which may later be the better characterization) author in the early 1900s, when writers were just breaking into the high society social scene.
Favorite quotes:
"If only people could travel as easily as words. Wouldn't that be something? If we could be so easily revised." (pg. 2)
"My standards were based on good sense, not the logic of lemmings." (pg. 13)
Overall, I felt that this book was well researched and written. In the middle of the book, I felt quite bored with the story. Reflecting back on it now, I feel that boredom may be exactly what Fowler intended, as its around that time that there is a significant change in Zelda. Shes starting to become disillusioned with her husband; a man whos never home, promises to finish writing things and never does, drinks too much, and thinks largely of only his interests. Shes bored with lazy days spent on the beach or shopping and raucous nights filled with people and booze.
Ive given it three stars for 2 reasons. First, while I understand wanting to be as thorough and accurate as possible, I thought the book could have been a bit shorter. Second, the story was not as interesting as I originally thought it would be, but you should not hold that against the book; perhaps it was just not a great choice on my part.
I would recommend this book to those of you who enjoy romantic historical fiction, as well as to anyone who wants to get a glimpse of what it was like to be the wife of a famous (or infamous, which may later be the better characterization) author in the early 1900s, when writers were just breaking into the high society social scene.
Favorite quotes:
"If only people could travel as easily as words. Wouldn't that be something? If we could be so easily revised." (pg. 2)
"My standards were based on good sense, not the logic of lemmings." (pg. 13)
A mostly biographical book written as a fictional memoir about the marriage of Zelda to F Scott Fitzgerald during Prohibition and the Jazz Age. From their courtship through the sanitarium stays and the other separations, often for 'business' reasons, this novel covers the 20 long years of marriage Zelda endured at the hands of the drunken author probably best known for his prize novel "The Great Gatsby" which appears to be loosely based upon their life together.
Richly sprinkled with artists, poets, and painters of the time, many of whom chose to live abroad also, the story is an inside peek at how the rich and famous lived, drank, and cavorted as long as the money didn't run out.
Includes Fitzgerald's questionable relationship with Hemingway before their downfalls, including how Fitz mentored the up and coming Hem. The story also gives a close look at marriage and the avoidance of divorce in the early decades of America in the 1900's.
Zelda's 'incarcerations' and treatments at mental institutions in both Europe and America give an eye-opening look at mental health care a century ago.
A limited view of the feminist movement is given, though some of Zelda's friends were active in it, but, surprisingly, advances that affected women's sexuality and childbearing are covered intimately.
A good follow-up read is probably "The Paris Wife".
Richly sprinkled with artists, poets, and painters of the time, many of whom chose to live abroad also, the story is an inside peek at how the rich and famous lived, drank, and cavorted as long as the money didn't run out.
Includes Fitzgerald's questionable relationship with Hemingway before their downfalls, including how Fitz mentored the up and coming Hem. The story also gives a close look at marriage and the avoidance of divorce in the early decades of America in the 1900's.
Zelda's 'incarcerations' and treatments at mental institutions in both Europe and America give an eye-opening look at mental health care a century ago.
A limited view of the feminist movement is given, though some of Zelda's friends were active in it, but, surprisingly, advances that affected women's sexuality and childbearing are covered intimately.
A good follow-up read is probably "The Paris Wife".
Therese Fowler has written a very engaging book from the perspective of Zelda Fitzgerald. It begins in Montgomery, Alabama in 1918 when Zelda is the belle of that very southern society. She is immediately smitten when she meets the charismatic F. Scott Fitzgerald and thus begins the saga of one of the most engaging and dysfunctional couples in literary circles. Scott's genius is eventually obscured by alcoholism and Zelda's spiral downward is well documented by historians. There are many fascinating relationships in this book among the literary elite of the jazz age - none more so than the Fitzgeralds' involvement with Ernest Hemingway. There are parallels in this book to The Paris Wife and the sad life of Hadley Hemingway. The excesses of the lives they chose eventually defined them. We will never know what further greatness may have been achieved both individually and as a couple had they made different choices or married different people.
I didn't realize how important feminism was (and still is) until I read this book. This book taught me how hard life could be if you succumb to things and person(s) who make decisions on how you should live your life according to the men in the society and especially when you're married to a famous person. Zelda was a person who prided herself on her ambitions and talents which enriched her personality as a whole person as Zelda, not as Fitzgerald's Wife. Her individuality was at stake. Love was her greatest sacrifice. Great read!
