Book Nook: A Review of Z: A Novel by Therese Anne Fowler

After finishing The Paris Wife, I was intrigued by the image of Zelda Fitzgerald as a certifiable looney who let her child slip off her lap and dove naked off cliffs. I'd always heard in school that Zelda was crazy and that Scott had to take care of her, but their story seemed so black and white. When I saw that Z: a Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald was being released, I knew I had to read it to try to get another perspective.

Like the Paris Wife, Z is a work of fiction, but based heavily on letters, Scott's drafts, and other period materials. Fowler gives Zelda a real human voice. In this book Zelda isn't the one dimensional schizophrenic that I learned about in English class, but a naive, tortured, somewhat self centered woman who had a seriously dysfunctional marriage to an overly controlling alcoholic. It really isn't surprising that this was the kind of life that the Fitzgerald's lived, especially if you really read The Beautiful and the Damned, Great Gatsby, or This Side of Paradise. No one is perfect, no one is really happy, and everything ends are themes that permeate Scott's work.

I really enjoyed the way that the author used detail to describe the clothing, the drinking, and the places Zelda was introduced to. Even thought New York may not be new or exciting to the average reader, the awe that Zelda experienced coming into Grand Central Station is felt by the reader at the same time. The decadence that the Fitzgerald's enjoyed at the beginning of their marriage seems like part of a fairy tale, full of glitz and sparkles that faded away when the evening ended. When all was said and done, Zelda Fitzgerald was really Zelda Sayre from Montgomery, Alabama who struggled to be happy, the glitz and romance of Zelda Fitzgerald was just part of the fairy tale.

If you're looking for a happy novel about figures you've idolized, then be warned. These are not happy people and this book will not give you the warm fuzzies about love or relationships. What it does give you is insight. Insight into the lives of famous people and how they really are just as screwed up as the rest of us. It's real, it's human, and it's raw. It is heartbreaking and beautiful. This book is definitely worth reading for the people, places and things that the Fowler brings to life.