Beautiful Little Fools

A Novel

By: Jillian Cantor

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Julia Whelan, Elizabeth Evans, Brittany Pressley, George Newbern

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

USA Today bestselling author Jillian Cantor reimagines and expands on the literary classic The Great Gatsby in this atmospheric historical novel with echoes of Big Little Lies, told in three women’s alternating voices.

On a sultry August day in 1922, Jay Gatsby is shot dead in his West Egg swimming pool. To the police, it appears to be an open-and-shut case of murder/suicide when the body of George Wilson, a local mechanic, is found in the woods nearby.

Then a diamond hairpin is discovered in the bushes by the pool, and three women fall under suspicion. Each holds a key that can unlock the truth to the mysterious life and death of this enigmatic millionaire.

Daisy Buchanan once thought she might marry Gatsby—before her family was torn apart by an unspeakable tragedy that sent her into the arms of the philandering Tom Buchanan.

Jordan Baker, Daisy’s best friend, guards a secret that derailed her promising golf career and threatens to ruin her friendship with Daisy as well.

Catherine McCoy, a suffragette, fights for women’s freedom and independence, and especially for her sister, Myrtle Wilson, who’s trapped in a terrible marriage.

Their stories unfold in the years leading up to that fateful summer of 1922, when all three of their lives are on the brink of unraveling. Each woman is pulled deeper into Jay Gatsby’s romantic obsession, with devastating consequences for all of them.

Jillian Cantor revisits the glittering Jazz Age world of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, retelling this timeless American classic from the women’s perspective. Beautiful Little Fools is a quintessential tale of money and power, marriage and friendship, love and desire, and ultimately the murder of a man tormented by the past and driven by a destructive longing that can never be fulfilled.

©2022 Jillian Cantor (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

A Must!

The book is amazing! I loved the Great Gatsby, this book answers so many of the questions you have when reading. I can not get over how amazing this book was. It's a mystery and twist, but fits so well!

New Spin

Such a great new spin on The Great Gatsby. I was unsure at first how I felt, but as it progressed, I loved it.

Meh

I feel pretty indifferent to this book. There were a few times that I was listening to it that I gasped at what had occurred, but overall, I thought the book was just okay. It may be because I already had an opinion of Gatsby, but I didn't like how he was portrayed in this book. I also could understand the feelings (or lack thereof) Daisy had for Gatsby when they finally met up again, but at the same time, I was hoping for a different outcome for them, despite their narcissistic and materialistic natures. However, I did think the ending was great. Jordan gets a bad rap in Fitzgerald's version, and I like that she redeems herself in Cantor's version.

Honestly, what I loved most about the book was the personal essay from Jillian Cantor explaining her fascination with The Great Gatsby and her idea of giving the women of the story a voice.

They picked the perfect voices to play the parts as well.

Nice re-telling of a classic

It was clear from the outset that Jillian Cantor has a deep passion for The Great Gatsby. I share that passion, having read or listened to The Great Gatsby more times than I know. In Ms. Cantor's reimagining of the story, we get more of the back story and more strength in the women characters. The Great Gatsby is a literary masterpiece, and Ms. Cantor does not try to outshine or upstage it, rather she gives it a new, updated voice and honors the original well. Listening to Beautiful Little Fools, my passion for The Great Gatsby was deepened. Yet Beautiful Little Fools stands on its own - it includes a little more of the history, complete character development, and a rich, story of complicated relationships centered around Jay Gatsby ending in the same tragic events with just a hint of a secret best kept. I was first drawn to consider Beautiful Little Fools because I so love everything Julie Whelan has written or narrated. Then the writing and the story pulled me in and enveloped me. Beautiful Little fools does honor The Great Gatsby in an original way. I am looking forward to listening again soon.

Ideas Vs Execution

If you are familiar with but not a repeat reader of The Great Gatsby, then you will probably find this book really compelling. But I have read and studied The Great Gatsby dozens of times, so my review is coming from that background.

This book had good ideas, but the execution was off at times. Many times. Character dialogue felt forced - they had to say each other’s names and especially nicknames too often, for example, so it came across as if the writer were trying too hard to convince readers of relationships - “See, they really are close with each other because they have nicknames for one another and everything! I promise!” Maybe some of my misgivings come down to how I interpret Gatsby (one of my favorite novels, which I’ve read and studied a lot because I I teach it to my students) compared to the author (one of her favorite novels), but I felt there were some liberties in characterization that were taken, lines from the original text that were conveniently left out/ignored, and therefore shifted outcomes and interpretations of character motivations. I think the ideas/outline is solid and could have still worked while remaining truer to what Fitzgerald intended. And what Fitzgerald intended is important here because even though this is an original story, the characters are not. I didn’t buy into how all of the relationships crossed paths - it was too much. And once this novel crossed over into what Fitzgerald had written, I felt that Cantor cherry-picked what was convenient for her plot line (which, admittedly, any writer would most likely do).

But even though there was a lot I didn’t agree with, I did find it interesting enough to finish. I did like some things about Daisy, Catherine, and Jordan’s development that added to but didn’t alter Fitzgerald’s characters. I can’t say the same about the others. So if you, like me, LOVE and KNOW WELL The Great Gatsby and picked this book up because of it, proceed with caution and an open mind. If you are a casual fan, it will be easier to buy into Cantor’s version of events because your not as invested in Fitzgerald’s world.

Making It New

A literary retelling of The Great Gatsby from a woman's point of view... making it new.

Interesting idea boring story

It was just boring. It was cool I take from The Great Gatsby, but the story is boring.

All the Stars from Me

This one gets all the stars from me. Well written and reimagined, strong points of view (a challenge in writing) from the female roles, and extremely well narrated. It drew me in and made me care about the women and their lives. Well done.

A refreshing adaptation of an old classic

The narrators, some of my favorites, did a great job telling the story we all know so well, but never from this point of view.

Interesting take on what really happened in the great fats by

This story made me think about how far women have come in society and how difficult the struggle was to get here….