z: a novel of zelda fitzgerald
- paigenherbooks
- Jul 11, 2022
- 7 min read
4/5
The Fitzgeralds are some of the most iconic and intriguing people to have ever graced this planet, in terms of fashion, culture, literature, and love...and I quite adore them. F. Scott and his whimsical wife, Zelda have been the topic of speculation and interest for years, even now years after both have descended into death, they live immortalized in people's minds. Therese Anne Fowler did a fantastic job of crafting a story not only set in fact, but giving Zelda a voice that felt relatable, spritely, and a true reflection of the world's most iconic flapper girl.
Synopsis: 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. The rest is history.
I adored this book. I have always had a fascination with F. Scott Fitzgerald and his most often branded, "crazy & wild" wife, Zelda. I always found their love story intoxicating and sickening in a way that made me crave the kind of devolution and tribulation in relationships of my own. Their life seemed like one big novel story that was never-ending. This story was about Zelda and her point of view when it came to being the wife of the ever-famous and sometimes infamous F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Zelda herself was done well. I felt close to her as she went through love, heartbreak, and struggles. She was spritely and very forward with who she was and what she wanted. She was intimidating to others, she was wild and misunderstood. But at the core of it, Zelda was herself. She did what she wanted because she simply just did. I honestly love her character and her as a person. She grew up between these pages, into a woman who has had her fair share of struggles. Also still devoted to her husband and the promise she made to him.
Zelda is a woman who led a life beyond her wildest imagination, and if anyone deserved it, it was her.
Zelda was fun and always wanted to dance. A good conversationalist and intelligent beyond what anyone gave her recognition for. She was a writer, a dancer, a painter, a wife, and a mother. She to me is in some ways the definition of the divine feminine. Let me elaborate. I think the beauty of being a woman is that we are divine. That to embrace "femininity" in any way, shape, or form (however you define it) is what will garnish your life to the fullest. Zelda is that pinnacle of that for me. She wanted to be cared for, wanted to express herself, and speak when she wanted. She danced like no one was watching and loved without reason.
She was a woman.
There were so many times throughout the story you could see her resolve and strength when dealing with Scott, or other unwelcome attention, and in the end I think she was giving a bad reputation for it. She was nothing if not kind, heartfelt, and honest with him. She was not the "crazy" woman who derailed his work and essentially killed his career. She was the support system no one thought of, the stronghold he could always fall back on, and that is a heavy task for anyone to take on.
F. Scott Fitzgerald, the man himself.
I have mixed feelings on him. I love him, I'll admit it freely. I love his stories and some of his quotes are my absolute favorite.
As a person, I think he can resemble the duality of man in a sense.
One side is the writer. The adventurer, the visionary, the hardworking and dedicated writer, husband, and father. The man who was going to leave a legacy and change the world with his work.
Then the other side, the drunk, the lowlife aura, the angry man who could only see his failures. The adulterer, the absent husband, and the man who frankly wanted Zelda to be something she wasn't. He was a tumultuous man who I honestly felt bad for towards the end of the book.
That being said he did ALOT of it to himself. The vices of alcohol can heavily affect one's life, even when you hate it, it loops you back into it's snares with promises of it being better this time.
I felt for Scott, I truly truly did.
The want to make something great or even profound is something I, myself aspire to do. I know I have my own vices that keep me back or my own failures or just walls I can't quite seem to climb. F. Scott Fitzgerald was a man who wanted greatness. Some can argue that he achieved it but at what cost? Others can argue they see nothing great in him or his works.
My opinion is that Scott did something great.
He wrote some fabulous stories and lived a life full of lessons and hardship, but at the end of it all he wrote his books. He was through and through a writer, which is all he ever wanted to be.
This story spoke a lot on women and gender roles as well, in a way that was quite intriguing. How the themes of what it means to be a women, a wife, and a mother. How most at the time, there was no intersection. Women were mothers and wives before anything else. Zelda challenged this and was constantly pushing for all of her titles to hold equal weight. That she was more than just a one dimensional being sent here for the entertainment of men and breeding of children. She was an artist, a dancer, a speaker, and a lover. She was "wild" but in a way that didn't defy or undermine her intelligence or ability to be a "good" wife or mother. I think this is the essence of being. a woman. I saw a quote once that said "to be a woman is to perform"
This struck me hard.
"To be a woman" is to theoretically and historically be a one dimensional figure in most people's stories. But on the other hand if it is re-christened I think to be a woman is to perform in ways that men nor others will ever understand...alas that is a post for another day when I break open my thoughts on feminism and what I think it means to be a woman...
I digress
Woman are more than one title. We are thinkers, creators, jurors, and life givers, and this Zelda shows through her story. Constantly fighting for her autonomy. I admired this from her.
Zelda never wanted to be a feminist per se, which I find quite comical, she just wanted to live her life the way she wanted. She struggled with the gender norms she was forced into. Sit down be quiet don't speak and essentially that she wasn't capable or as "serious" as the men. This was such a 180 from what Scott fell in love with her for. It was infuriating to hear her be spoken down to, especially when she was a very talented writer, painter, AND dancer. To watch her struggle with her identity and who she was v.s. what she was expected to be was understandable and saddening. To watch her descend into mental illness due to the toxicity of her and Scott's relationship. But as much as they hated each other, they still loved each other until they died.
This story is heartbreaking and eye-opening at the same time.
How women truly did fight for their right to simply exist in the same places as men, to be who they wanted to be, to be more than just a wife or a mother. To have their own curated path and identity.
To be themselves.
To again, embrace that divine femininity in whichever avenue you see fit. As a woman, I am thankful for their voices, sacrifice, and determination to let me be able to forge my own destiny.
To Zelda, I raise a toast.
On the logistics of the story, it was great. Fowler writes in a way that is intriguing and gives a full life and voice to Zelda. I felt as if I was reading her diaries and we had been the best of friends for ages. The story was paced well and I was wondering what was going to happen next in the age of Jazz.
This story was riveting, it was insightful, and it honestly taught me a lot. About the Fitzgeralds and their love, their life, and story. It was profound in a way that it's all I can think about. How Zelda and Scott were so in love but were so bad for each other in some ways. How destiny has a funny way of playing out. Cheers to the Fitzgeralds, to Scott, and most of all to Zelda.
May they forever be immortalized in history.
also enjoy some of my favorite f. scott fitzgerald & zelda quotes below:
Z E L D A
"excuse me for being so intellectual. I know you would prefer something nice and feminine and affectionate"
"nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold"
"she refused to be bored, chiefly because she wasn't boring"
S C O T T "for what it's worth...it's never too late or in my case too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit. Start whenever you want. You can change or stay the same. There are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you've never felt before. I hope you meet people who have a different point of view. I hope you life a life you're proud of, and if you're not, I hope you have the courage to start over again."
"She was beautiful, but not like those girls in the magazines. She was beautiful for the way she thought. She was beautiful, for the sparkle in her eyes when she talked about something she loved. She was beautiful for her ability to make other people smile, even if she was sad. No, she wasn't beautiful for something as temporary as her looks. She was beautiful, deep down to her soul. She is beautiful."
happy reading folks! Love ya!
xoxo
paige
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