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.
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