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    Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
    Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
    Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
    Audiobook12 hours

    Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald

    Written by Therese Anne Fowler

    Narrated by Jenna Lamia

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    THE INSPIRATION FOR THE TELEVISION DRAMA Z: THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING

    With brilliant insight and imagination, Therese Anne Fowler's New York Times bestseller Z brings us Zelda's irresistible story as she herself might have told it.

    I wish I could tell everyone who thinks we're ruined, Look closer…and you'll see something extraordinary, mystifying, something real and true. We have never been what we seemed.

    When beautiful, reckless Southern belle Zelda Sayre meets F. Scott Fitzgerald at a country club dance in 1918, she is seventeen years old and he is a young army lieutenant stationed in Alabama. Before long, the "ungettable" Zelda has fallen for him despite his unsuitability: Scott isn't wealthy or prominent or even a Southerner, and keeps insisting, absurdly, that his writing will bring him both fortune and fame. Her father is deeply unimpressed. But after Scott sells his first novel, This Side of Paradise, to Scribner's, Zelda optimistically boards a train north, to marry him in the vestry of St. Patrick's Cathedral and take the rest as it comes.

    What comes, here at the dawn of the Jazz Age, is unimagined attention and success and celebrity that will make Scott and Zelda legends in their own time. Everyone wants to meet the dashing young author of the scandalous novel—and his witty, perhaps even more scandalous wife. Zelda bobs her hair, adopts daring new fashions, and revels in this wild new world. Each place they go becomes a playground: New York City, Long Island, Hollywood, Paris, and the French Riviera—where they join the endless party of the glamorous, sometimes doomed Lost Generation that includes Ernest Hemingway, Sara and Gerald Murphy, and Gertrude Stein.

    Everything seems new and possible. Troubles, at first, seem to fade like morning mist. But not even Jay Gatsby's parties go on forever. Who is Zelda, other than the wife of a famous—sometimes infamous—husband? How can she forge her own identity while fighting her demons and Scott's, too?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateMar 26, 2013
    ISBN9781427230706
    Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
    Author

    Therese Anne Fowler

    THERESE ANNE FOWLER is the New York Times bestselling author of A Good Neighborhood, A Well-Behaved Woman, and Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald. Raised in the Midwest, she migrated to North Carolina in 1995. She holds a B.A. in sociology/cultural anthropology and an MFA in creative writing from North Carolina State University.

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    Reviews for Z

    4/5

    474 ratings64 reviews

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    • 4/5
      I knew I would love this book, if only because of the era 1920’s and that it’s about Zelda and her marriage to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Both have fascinated me, mostly because of all the stories I have read about how wonderfully fun and damaged they were in their love for each other. Most of us have heard of the crazy antics of Zelda, and many people believe she was F. Scott Fitzgerald’s downfall, I always thought different. I tend to romanticize their relationship, two eccentric people in love with each to the brink of insanity and in Zelda’s case, to insanity. Z is a book that I had to read.I truly enjoyed the story Z, it’s a fictional account of how life was for Zelda, being inside her brain while being in the midst of the writers and artist of their time is really a fascinating read, especially to fans of literature, and Fitzgerald, in particular, The egos, competition, and pompousness of these creative types and how it shaped her marriage to Fitzgerald really pulls you in and keeps you reading, so many personalities thriving for attention. It seemed beautiful, yet ugly all at the same time. It’s definitely different than most accounts of their love, we mostly hear how Zelda ruined Scott, or how she craved attention and most of the time did outlandish things to demand it, but with Z we get a different perspective of how Zelda thought. I am able to visualize a different Zelda, and one much more likable. We all have different sides of us, she must have had too. Z takes us many places, and we travel mentally to all the places the Fitzgerald roamed too. At times it seemed exhausting to adjust to another location. I can’t imagine the toll it took on the famous couple. The descriptions of the places are just the right amount for someone who does not like too much filler, but seeks to visualize the setting. Alabama, New York, Paris, and California are just some places we travel to as readers. The flow of the location changes and Zelda’s story are paced well, and the writing for me was good. Honestly, I am not one that dissects writing and the usage of words, sentence structure, etc. I either like a book or don’t. And I definitely liked Z. My one problem with Z is one that bothered a few readers, and that is the use of made up letters from Zelda to Scott. I agree with other reviewers, why make up stories when there are so many preserved and published real ones. I understand that the book is fiction but it takes “something” away from the story. Simply, why?I do recommend Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, especially to fans of the 1920’s and/or readers who like a tale of marriage gone bad.
    • 5/5
      (I received an e-copy of Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald courtesy of NetGalley.)

      I am such a huge fan of The Fitzgeralds. I think my fascination for the jazz age goes hand-in-hand with my love for Hollywood and vintage glamour. Zelda and Scott were the "it" couple. While, if they were around today, they may be on the covers of the trashy tabloids - their exploits are fun and exciting and dramatic - and make for a wonderful story.

      But there is more to their story than the flashy parties and the extravagant salons, and all of the famous friends. Really, what we have, is a pair of people both brilliant and deeply troubled. They strive for success (and achieve it), but they must also live with depression, and failures.

      Therese Anne Fowler (who has been on my "must read" list forever!) paints a portrait of this couple that is relatable, and touching, and heart-wrenching. Zelda, a fiercely beautiful and outgoing young woman, who is swept into Scott's exciting life. When Zelda meets Scott, he is too confident and too silly for her parents to approve of the match. Despite her family's misgivings, Zelda marries Scott. This decision ultimately shapes the rest of her life.

      Fowler describes the luxurious, booze-fueled early days of the Fitzgerald marriage in such charming details that I dreamed of tagging along. I loved reading these accounts from Zelda's perspective, as she makes herself over into the flapper of Scott's stories. The public waits on their every action and every word.

      As the years pass and the Fitzgerald's marriage is challenged by financial hardships, emotional breakdowns, and the presence of one well-written (if infuriating!) Ernest Hemingway, Fowler showcases a marriage that struggles, despite the odds. There is so much emotion in these pages. I couldn't put them down.
    • 3/5
      Z:A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler
      375 pages

      ★★★ ½

      Let me start this out by saying, regardless of the material, I love the narrator of the audio edition, Jenna Lamia. I have heard other books by her and every time her voice is music to my ears. She has Southern down. Which is funny because from the research I’ve done, she’s never been anywhere near the south. But boy, do I love it when she does audio books (she is also an actress), she just brings life to books. I don’t know if I would have enjoyed the book as much if I had not listened to it.

      There is always risk, I think, in doing a piece of fiction when there are so many non-fiction sources out there – and there are A LOT of things known about the Fitzgerald’s. And when you add in other people, such as Hemingway (which makes sense), the author definitely wants a challenge. So how did the author do? Alright. It is well known that F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda had a very rough relationship, to say the least, and that comes through beautifully in the book. There is very little in this book about Zelda’s life pre-Fitzgerald and that sort of irritated me but perhaps the author was looking for the drama found in the marriage. But, while there was drama, there was a lot of reaaaaaalllly slow parts in here that I question if I could have gotten through if it wasn’t for the audio version (although I often zoned out during that too), luckily it packed back up later on the book. I think the author did well in writing the characters, F. Scott being exactly as one would expect and Zelda being a little harder to grasp just like I think she was in real life, a very real portrayal. It’s no The Paris Wife, but it is an interesting view on Zelda and her tumultuous descent into darkness. Worth the read if you are into historical fiction.
    • 5/5
      Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Ann Fowler is an exceptional look into the life of not only Zelda, but also her husband F. Scott Fitzgerald. This time period has always been a fascination of mine and I always presumed it was one of travels, parties, and jovial times; however Zelda’s life was not all it seemed and yet at times more than it appeared. Fowler manages to bring Zelda to life for the reader and effortlessly brings the reader into Zelda’s life as an observer, a close confidant, and one cannot help but be transported back in time. This was one book I did not want to end, but alas as with all good things, it did. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald with stay with me for quite some time and it is a book I will be reading again over time. Book Discussion groups would do well in choosing Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, it is great fun and there is so very much to discuss.
    • 4/5
      A rollicking historical novel about the life of Zelda Fitzgerald. Told in the first person with a powerful voice that immediately captures the imagination, this novel walks through the corridors of Zelda's life giving the reader a glimpse into a remarkable woman who was cruelly misunderstood for most of her life.
    • 3/5
      Enjoyable though I have some doubts about the veracity (and yes, I know it's FICTION). Zelda comes off as an extremely intelligent good time gal whose biggest problem was living in an era when women were expected to prioritize their husband/families needs and interests over their own. I've read other accounts of Zelda that weren't as kind, but she was a likable protagonist here. This book did, however, confirm my belief that Hemingway was an overrated sham and a complete jerk. While the incident that created discord between Zelda and Hemingway was in all likelihood totally false, it wasn't hard to believe that such a scenario could take place (because Hemingway sux). Lastly, her relationship with Scott - oh law. What a hot boiling mess - he was so annoying throughout the book with his crazy, profligate spending and constant need for validation. Zelda was the love of his life, but he never seemed to see her for who she really was; rather he was constantly trying to stuff her into a role (flapper, muse, supportive wife, etc) for which she was ill-suited. His character possessed none of the self-awareness he displays in his own novels and one wonders why this Zelda falls for him. AND YES I KNOW IT'S FICTION. But I'm pretending it's real. The End.
    • 5/5
      vivid and compelling, a beautifully imagined look at zelda fitzgerald's life.
    • 4/5
      for fans of the paris wife and the movie midnight and paris! i found it a little slow at times, but overall it was a good read!
    • 5/5
      Z is a fictionalized account of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald's life. It begins about the time she encountered F. Scott Fitzgerald for the first time and continues until shortly after his death. Written in the first person, the narrative has a tone of truth about it that makes for a fascinating read. Although Zelda was raised in the conservative south of Alabama, she turned her back on her upbringing when she left by train to go marry Scott in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. After that, life was basically one big party celebrated on two continents with no real home base. It all caught up with her eventually when she suffered a mental collapse and had to be hospitalized repeated for mental problems. The treatments caused severe side-effects that led to further hospitalizations, and she died in a hospital fire during the last of her stays. It's an amazing story that lovers of literature and history will enjoy reading.
    • 3/5
      This is the story of Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald from the perspective of the young and fiery debutante-turned-flapper. The book is well-researched and written convincingly in Zelda's charming, yet intuitive voice. The story is fascinating and although I wasn't deeply impressed by the writing, I enjoyed reading it.
    • 3/5
      3 stars because although I thought that Zelda was interesting, sad and well told, but I question the accuracy of her Zelda even though I liked her. Fowler indeed did much research, but then essentially changed & slanted it by making up the dialog to support her thoughts. What talented, but yet wasted lives they led.
    • 4/5
      An enjoyable read, especially the audio version. I know this is highly fictionalized and speculative but I still enjoyed this story of the Fitzgeralds's crazy lives. This story of the Jazz Age was a lot of fun to listen to and made me want to read more about them
    • 5/5
      Fabulous. I found it really interesting and engaging.
    • 3/5
      I liked the start, stalled in the middle and set it aside for a month. I started it back again just as they meet Hemingway. Having read Hemingway's Wife a few months ago, this part was a faster read.

      So much of the story is a sad reflection on society at the time...insulin shock treatments and morphine because she want true to her role as a devoted wife, scary.

      Scottie went to Vassar and there was just a bit about her in the Quarterly. Her papers are there. What a life.
    • 5/5
      I have been a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald for most of my life and have heard many stories about his troubled marriage to his wife Zelda. This novel tells their story from Zelda's view and it is a sad one. Though he loved Zelda, he didn't understand her or what she needed from him.
      Since I already knew, somewhat, of the story before reading this novel, there weren't many surprises, but there were some. I didn't know that Fitzgerald and Hemingway were friends or that Zelda blamed him for the troubles in her marriage to Scott. It seemed to me, after reading this novel, that Fitzgerald was a better friend to Hemingway than Hemingway was to him.
      The focus of this novel isn't on Fitzgerald, but Zelda. And her long marriage to him wasn't always a happy one or a peaceful one either. There is no doubt, to me anyway, that they both loved each other, even when they weren't getting along. Despite all the difficulties, they stayed together, even when it would have been better, maybe, for them both not to. A love story of the ages.
    • 4/5
      Entertaining and such an easy read - told from Zelda's point of view, her breezy, southern-inflected conversational tone was like a friend telling you a story. Much has been written and still may yet be about the relationship of Scott and Zelda, and how it was influenced by the circles in which they moved, and the time just after the First World War and the frenzy of artistic growth from young men who had escaped the jaws of death and found their outlook on life forever changed. Shifting morals, the rise of women's rights - what a time it was. And then there was Hemingway. Not portrayed here in a very positive light, but as the author states, folks are mainly divided up as being either for Scott or for Zelda. I find her struggle to have something of her own admirable, and I'm in her camp.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this story of Zelda Fitzgerald, told in first person. It is the telling of her life as the wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald during the 1920's and '30's. She was also known as "The First Flapper." It tells of how they met, fell in love, and lived an exciting life moving all around the world, partying, and rubbing shoulders with many famous celebrities of the time. But it all took a toll on her and on Scott. It is a sad but very interesting story. I recommend it, especially if you enjoy the era of the "Roaring Twenties"!
    • 3/5
      One of the first books I listened to on audio. The reader was quite engaging, but they story was not always. The parts with Hemingway were fascinating.
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed this book a lot, and couldn't put it down once I started it!
      I am a sucker for a novel based on a real person, and this didn't disappoint. I knew a little bit about Zelda, but this book truly brought her alive for me. The author does a great job of sending the reader back in time to the 1920's through her dialogue and descriptions. I can't wait to see what she writes next!
    • 5/5
      "utterly engrossing" - for once I agree with the cover endorsements. Although a fictional account it captures Zelda's voice rather than her husbands. They both drank a lot and partied hard!
    • 4/5
      I knew very little about Zelda Fitzgerald before I read this book, but by the time I finished it I had been moved by her passionate life. The reader begins to get to know her as a teenager in Montgomery, Alabama, when she is dancing ballet and defying the restrictions her parents place upon her. When she meets Scott Fitzgerald, a young army Lieutenant, she falls head over heels for the dashing young man with dreams of becoming a novelist. She eventually runs off to New York to marry him--against the advice of her father--and they begin their legendary adventures as one of the elite couples of the Jazz age. During the ups and downs of their marriage, Zelda encounters many stimulating muses--in Scott himself, and then in the many creative people they meet . She paints and writes and tends to their daughter Scottie--but her husband's drinking and controlling personality creates a lot of friction in their home. Scott is perhaps just a product of his times, but the way the author portrays his attempts to mold Zelda into a dutiful, supportive wife grates against modern feminist views, some of which are beginning to emerge at the time. Here Zelda's mental illness seems to be partly that she would not make Scott the center of her world, or give up her own literary and artistic dreams. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction, especially if they enjoy seeing it through the eyes of a woman rather than that of a man. And the audiobook version is marvelously done, the voice of the narrator-who does a fine southern accent-truly made it seem as if Zelda was telling the story herself.
    • 4/5
      This fictional account of Zelda Fitzgerald's life with F. Scott is told from her viewpoint and slants heavily in her favor and against Scott. Zelda seems to have been born about 70 years too early, as she chafed under the constraints that women dealt with and accepted as a matter of course before feminism became popular. Her husband blamed her for any problems he had - alcoholism, writer's block, infidelities, money - because she did not conform to the standards of the day for a wife and mother - keeping a "secure hearth" and subjugating all thoughts, desires and needs to that of the husband. Zelda suffered from mental illness which further fueled Scott's resentment of her. Scott comes off as an extraordinary jerk (I'd like to use a stronger word) - and at the end when he died, I thought "good riddance." Nevertheless, Zelda truly loved him and could never seem to cut the ties, unfortunately for her. This book presents an interesting perspective on these two very famous personalities.
    • 4/5
      Therese Anne Fowler takes the real-life love story of Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald and fictionalizes it in this account, giving greater emphasis and creditability to Zelda's own voice. While I found the book a bit slow to get into personally, by about a third of the way in, I didn't want to put it down. Zelda is an interesting, if conflicted, character and her life with "Scott" throws her in the path of many other well-known celebrities of their day including Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, and a plethora of other artists, literati, and Hollywood types who each serve to make the story even more entertaining. And reading about the dysfunctional relationship between Zelda and Scott was like watching a train wreck -- you know you really shouldn't, but you can't quite keep your curiosity at bay. Fowler's writing style is a good fit for this type of book. It is not overly simplistic nor does it try to knock your over the head with its "literariness." There's a liberal dosing of foreshadowing and metaphors, but it's not an overly symbolic, heavy read. Despite its length, it could be read fairly quickly and easily while still containing enough intriguing tidbits for the reader to look up more about later as well as providing fodder for discussion.My edition included some additional reader information like an author interview and discussion questions, which are handy for book groups. Overall, I'm glad to have read this book and ended up learning quite a bit more about the Fitzgeralds and their circle of acquaintance as a result.
    • 4/5
      Audio book performed by Jenna Lamia

      Zelda Sayer was just shy of her eighteenth birthday, a popular debutante in her Montgomery Alabama home, when she met a dashing young Army lieutenant – F Scott Fitzgerald. The rest, as they say, is history. This novel – and it IS a novel – tells the story of the Fitzgeralds from Zelda’s point of view.

      Of course I already knew the basic story of the famous couple – their meteoric rise to fame, their frantic partying as they embraced the Jazz Age, their slow descent and early deaths. What Fowler has done, however, is take all the biographies, memoirs, letters, news accounts, reviews, and magazine articles and crafted a wonderfully personal story of a fascinating woman and the man she loved. She peppers the novel with real incidents and the large circle of friends and acquaintances who were nearly as famous as (or sometimes more than) the Fitzgeralds. Ernest Hemingway looms large in the story of Scott and Zelda’s years in France and of their marriage, and so he plays a significant role in this novel. But it’s wise to remember that this a work of fiction, told strictly from Zelda’s point of view. Yes, we do get some counterpoint when she is arguing with Scott or some other character, but her opinions, thoughts, reactions are the primary focus here.

      Fowler does a good job of painting the landscape of the time and place as well. The Fitzgeralds lived in many locations during their marriage – New York, St Paul MN, Maryland, Paris, the Riviera, Italy, Switzerland, Hollywood. Fowler manages to give us a glimpse of each locale, but not a clear picture – blurred as it was by all the alcohol these two consumed. More importantly, the focus of the novel is on the relationship between Zelda and Scott. They lived in a very tiny world, focused on one another, feeding on each other’s weaknesses or strength as the occasion demanded.

      The result is a mesmerizing look at a marriage that is doomed from the outset. Yesterday a large sinkhole opened up taking half a Baltimore street (cars, trees, etc) with it. Every time the video is replayed on television I find I cannot tear my eyes away from the destruction unfolding before me. I already know what is going to happen, but I can’t stop watching it. I felt the same way reading this book.

      Jenna Lamia does a fine job narrating the audio version of the book. Her Southern debutante Zelda is spot on perfect. Her older, shrill, frustrated, mentally exhausted Zelda is equally as good. And she does a pretty good job on the male characters as well.
    • 5/5
      Despite studying English in college, I actually knew very little about Zelda Fitzgerald other than who she was. This novel prompted me to look further into her life and the life of her husband. While this novel is fiction, it is based on fact and is written from Zelda's point of view. I enjoyed reading about her life, her loves, and even the demons she faced in later years. I came away thinking of her as a sad figure who was in a marriage she should not have been in to an egotistical alcoholic. As the author acknowledges in the end, there are differing opinions on both Zelda and Scott. She calls them Team Scott and Team Zelda, in fact. I still appreciate his writing, whatever type of person Scott truly was.
    • 4/5
      Really enjoyable book. Although fiction, it's based on real people and events. I read Gatsby recently; now I want to read more of Fitzgerald's works and Hemingway's, too.
    • 5/5
      I loved Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Theresa Anne Fowler. First I want to say that the narrator did a wonderful natural southern accent that I loved to listen to. I hope that I can listen to more books read by her.The jazz age in America is really growing on me. I have read about it in New York City, in New Orleans and about the circle of friends that Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald had in the United States in several books. Surprisingly, everything is meshing together. This book is sort of the cherry on top for me of all the books. I do have one more to read, Ernest Hemingway’s Moveable Feast and I am sure that since my sympathies are with Zelda all the way that I will be very angry all the way through that book. But I will try to be unbiased. I know that I am not done reading historical fiction books of that era!The author had to have researched Zelda very carefully because so much fits with the other books. What I love the most is that she has Zelda revealing herself like she is just talking with us. It is so personable and so sweet. The two were inseparable at the beginning, Zelda chose him from a large field of suitors over her father’s wishes. But there were many troubles, F. Scott’s spending lavishly on a sparse income, his alcoholism and refusal to accept that Zelda could make her own decisions and be what she wanted to be besides an adoring wife and mother. Back then, Zelda was thought to be schizophrenic but bipolar fits much better. She learned to dance, draw, paint and write stories and books. She wanted to be free of him but at the same time she loved him. So it was a delicate tightrope that she walked and she fell off several times. The author brings the full experience of what the parties and dancing and gossipy was like and the many troubles that developed later from the free flow of alcohol and very strict mores of the time. The experiences in the mental institutions rang true. This book flows robustly through Zelda’s and F. Scott’s lives. I believe this book is a book to read with a collection of books by Fitzgerald, Hemingway and others. I think the author did an excellent job of putting together her life. I highly recommend this book and feel even more encouraged to learn more about this age and the authors then.
    • 3/5
      Enjoyed this book very much. I am enthralled with the 1920's and all the bigger than life characters who lived during that period. This story was so bright at times and overwhelmingly sad at others. A fictional account of their courtship marriage travels and failures.
    • 4/5
      “Z: A novel of Zelda Fitzgerald” tells the story of the wife of Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. Zelda's story replays the glitter, parties and fame that so often combine with the sadness, disappointment and drama in the lives of the rich and famous. Zelda’s story is that of a wife whose dreams and talents are hidden behind and sublimated by a famous and self-important husband. It is similar to the stories of the wives of Frank Lloyd Wright as told in “Loving Frank”, and Robert Lewis Stevenson in “Under the Wide and Starry Sky”. The wives of these famous men were always in the background of their famous spouses, and many times were as capable and accomplished or sometimes even more so than the men they married and supported. The overpowering quest for Frank to write the great American novel is part of a central focus in both Zelda’s and Frank’s life. You are taken through the years with the ups and down of time and experiences. Zelda was not a character I identified with as she seemed self-indulgent and spoiled. I understand some of the hardships she faced but did not connect with her. I give this book a 3.5 rating
    • 5/5
      Therese Fowler is a very talented writer as have read all her books--once again she has written a winner! Hats off first with the stunning cover (an eye catcher) and the research involved in putting together this extraordinary novel! Everything about the roaring 20s is appealing from the glitz, glamour, romance, travels, parties, culture, and fashion.

      As a lover of Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby, the first person fiction from Zelda’s perspective was nicely portrayed, transporting you back in time, setting the mood for each adventure. You get caught up into Zelda’s lifestyle as she experiences the highs and lows of a complex relationship of love and hate. She was talented and misunderstood-a Southern belle merging from the naïve protected girl to the struggles of power, success, fame, travel, alcoholism, infidelity, and mental illness and tough choices as she struggles for her own independence and self-worth. Well done!