Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald

Ever since I took an English lit class focusing on Fitzgerald and Hemingway, I have been drawn to almost anything written about them. This is the first time I've ever read anything focusing on Zelda Fitzgerald, and it shows quite a different perspective from what I am used to. Yes, this is a work of fiction, but the author clearly shows with whom her sympathies lie.

It's 1918, when we meet high-school-aged Zelda Sayre at her hometown in Alabama, where there is a street named for her family. She is beautiful and charming and could have her pick of any boy, but she falls head-over-heels for the handsome officer stationed there, Scott Fitzgerald. Her family would like her to marry someone with a profession (writing it not a profession by their standards) but she'll have none of it. So begins the fun, wild, interesting, intriguing, and heart-breaking life of THE premier Jazz Age couple.

My main problem with the novel is that the author, Fowler, places pretty much all of the blame for the couple's problems squarely on Scott's (and to an extent, Hemingway's) shoulders. Yes, Scott is a needy alcoholic artistic genius (bordering on abusive), but I don't believe Zelda is as innocent as she is portrayed. Fowler takes tons of artistic license, including making up correspondence between Zelda and Scott, despite having the actual letters available as reference. Fowler also makes Hemingway out to be just a horrible person, which I think is over-simplifying one of the greatest literary minds of a generation.

Having said all that, this is still a GREAT read. The characters are rich and interesting, the story moves very quickly, and I really like Zelda. She was arguably one of the most interesting women of the 20th century, in fiction or reality.

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald