Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald is a fictionalised portrait of the woman who was married to the famous (or infamous) F. Scott Fitzgerald. It paints a far more realistic portrait of Zelda than Ernest Hemingway’s account in A Moveable Feast, and tries to controvert the notion of her as just Fitzgerald’s ‘crazy’ wife.

The life of Zelda and her transformation from a 17-year-old Southern belle to Scott’s muse and the toast of the New York literati is rendered in exquisite detail by Therese Anne Fowler, as is the train wreck of Zelda’s life in later years, marred by marital problems, excesses of all kinds (booze and out of control spending), as well as the physical and mental illness that sadly separated her from Scott in the last years of her life.

Fowler used the works of both Zelda and Scott, the large archive of their correspondence with each other, and various biographies to imagine Zelda as a creative artist in her own right. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s work was semi-autobiographical, drawing heavily from his life and marriage, and this book aims to reveal how present Zelda was in this process. Fans of The Great Gatsby may be surprised to learn that Daisy’s hope that her daughter would be a ‘beautiful little fool’ was pronounced by Zelda when her own daughter, Frances, was born.

Written in the first person, Z unmasks Zelda’s life as both hopeful and tragic: the glitter of youth and promise and the darkening of despair and age are shown in sharp contrast. A fascinating insight into the lives of the first celebrity ‘It’ couple for fans of the Jazz Age.

Ingrid Josephine