A novel of the woman dubbed 'The First Flapper' - Zelda Fitzgerald, wife and muse to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set against the glamorous backdrop of the Roaring Twenties, Z is the story of the golden couple who had it all, but who weren't destined for a happy ending.
'Sometimes', said Scott, 'I don't know whether Zelda and I are real or whether we are characters from one of my own novels.'
Before F. Scott Fitzgerald was a literary darling, before he'd even begun to imagine
The Great Gatsby or Benjamin Button, he was a young WWI army lieutenant who fell hard for a spirited Southern belle named Zelda Sayre. The life he and Zelda would lead together in New York, Long Island, Paris, Hollywood and the French Riviera made them legends, even in their own time. Set amidst the glamour of the Jazz Age and The Lost Generation's vivid world abroad,
Z vividly brings Zelda and Scott's romantic, tumultuous, extraordinary journey to life.
Zelda was the embodiment of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties. She was vibrant, headstrong, complicated and misunderstood.
Z is the irresistibly rich, romantic and tumultuous story of Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, set in seductive settings. Filled with larger-than-life characters such as Ernest Hemingway, Sara and Gerald Murphy and Gertrude Stein, we watch the evolution of this iconic woman as she lived large and ached to find her own identity in the shadow of her celebrated husband.
'An utterly engrossing portrayal of Zelda Fitzgerald and the legendary circles in which she moved. In the spirit of Loving Frank and The Paris Wife, Therese Anne Fowler shines a light on Zelda instead of her more famous husband, providing both justice and the voice she struggled to have heard in her lifetime.''A novel that is as heartbreaking as it is mesmerizing. Just magnificent.''Fowler's richly imagined portrait of the Jazz Age's literary royalty is a wonderfully engaging read. With crisp dialogue and vivid descriptions, Z delivers both a compelling love story and a poignant tale of a woman coming into her own as an artist.'
Narrated by Fowler's imagined voice of Zelda Fitzgerald, this is the touching and ultimately tragic love story of Zelda and her husband, F Scott Fitzgerald. Like much of their life, reality played like an F Scott Fitzgerald novel - full of glamour, alcohol and bad behaviour.
This is an engrossing read of celebrity life. In some ways the story is specific to the between the war years and that fascinating creative group of writers and artists. In particular the opportunities for women beyond the role of home-maker drew Zelda and frustrated Scott. In other ways, perhaps things haven't changed that much as bright starts shine and burn out. Amy Winehouse anyone?
Therese Anne Fowler has a BA in sociology/cultural anthropology and an MFA in creative writing. Her work has won honours from the Faulkner Society and Thomas Wolfe Fiction prize competitions. She was an editorial assistant and taught undergraduate fiction writing before leaving academia to write full-time. An Illinois native, she has two grown sons and two nearly grown stepsons, and currently lives in North Carolina with her husband.
www.theresefowler.com
http://pinterest.com/tworoadsbooks/zelda-sayre-fitzgerald/
www.tworoadsbooks.com/index.php/books/z/
Gatsby mania.The first novel about Zelda, herself: F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife and muse - known as 'The First Flapper'.Half of the Jazz Age's golden couple: their celebrity was notorious. Together they embodied the Jazz Age - brash, bold and unafraid. William Randolph Hearst had a reporter covering their antics exclusively.For fans of
Paris Wife and
Loving Frank: great book group appeal - the Fitzgeralds lived an alcohol-fuelled life during the 'greatest, gaudiest spree in history', as F. Scott Fitzgerald described the Twenties. Their circle comprised some of the greatest writers and artists of the early Twentieth century, the 'Lost Generation' in Paris to the Prohibition of New York.A misunderstood and often tragic figure: struggling with the roles of wife, mother, artist, as well as mental illness - Zelda has long been a mysterious character - this meticulously researched and sympathetic portrait brings her out of Scott's shadow.Huge resurgence of interest in the Fitzgeralds from the sell-out 8-hour play of GATZ to Baz Luhrmann's mid-2013 Warner film of
The Great Gatsby starring Carey Mulligan and Leonardo DiCaprio.The Roaring Twenties are back - have they ever been away?Zelda's bob was described by
Time Magazine as one of the ten most iconic hairstyles of all time.