Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald

By: Therese Anne Fowler

Narrated by: Jenna Lamia

Publisher's summary

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?

©2013 Therese Anne Fowler (P)2013 Macmillan

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Critic reviews

“Narrator Jenna Lamia's soft Southern accent and languid tone immediately set the mood for this first-person fictional account of Zelda's marriage with F. Scott Fitzgerald, the great American novelist…listeners will be fascinated by this well-researched story of the beautiful flapper and her famous husband during the Roaring Twenties.” —Audiofile Magazine

“Fowler's Zelda is all we would expect and more…once she meets the handsome Scott, her life takes off on an arc of indulgence and decadence that still causes us to shake our heads in wonder…soirées with Picasso and his mistress, with Cole Porter and his wife, with Gerald and Sara Murphy, Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas, Ezra Pound and Jean Cocteau. Scott's friendship with Hemingway verges on a love affair--at least it's close enough to one to make Zelda jealous. Ultimately, both of these tragic, pathetic and grand characters are torn apart by their inability to love or leave each other. Fowler has given us a lovely, sad and compulsively readable book.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Fowler's detailed and lyrical novel is enhanced by Lamia's exquisitely crafted voice…Lamia pays great attention to Fowler's prose, giving each sentence enough space to shine and capturing the emotional weight of the novel with changes in pitch, tone, and emphasis. She paces her reading at an indolent, rolling speed that quickly shifts into high gear as events demand in a delightful and entertaining performance of this best-seller.” —Booklist

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4 out of 5 stars

By Ray Stewart on 04-07-16

Multitalented Woman

This story grew on me over time. In the beginning it seems too detailed, but the longer I listened to it, the more impressed I became with Zelda's spunk. I hope the real Zelda was as awesome a personality as the historical-fiction version.

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5 out of 5 stars

By lyl on 12-16-13

An extraordinary life

Zelda and Scott lived.in a society newly created - the Jazz Age. It is hard for us now to understand how fast and furious the Victorian Age dissolved and its mores were shoved aside. They knew everyone in the literary world worth knowing and we get to have a glimpse of them. In addition, this is the story of a marriage, and some interesting facts about concepts of mental health at thar time. I would like to add that I thought the narrator was outstanding. Will look for her reading other books.

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5 out of 5 stars

By VERB on 02-20-17

I loved this book so much!

Probably the only thing I like almost as much as the Victorian age is this time period. The Golden Age. I was spurred on to buy this book by the TV series. I love them both!

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5 out of 5 stars

By Amazon Customer on 04-09-13

Z Best!

What made the experience of listening to Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald the most enjoyable?

The story is so real I felt I knew the Fitzgeralds; the narration was amazing. This is truly a love story that is heartbreaking.

What other book might you compare Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald to and why?

I would compare this to the movie, The Way We Were.

What does Jenna Lamia bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Ms. Lamia made me feel that I was hearing Zelda speak; she made Zelda come alive for me.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book; even the happiness in the Fitzgeralds' lives brought tears to my eyes. They were so in love but were just not good for each other.

Any additional comments?

I loved listening to this book.

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5 out of 5 stars

By Kendra on 04-02-17

Brilliant

I'm slightly obsessed with the 1920s and The Great Gatsby, and I'd had this on my TBR list for at least a year. My only regret is that I didn't read it sooner. It's brilliant, simply put. The writing is wonderful, the story fascinating and the narrator perfect. I knew almost nothing about Zelda before so picked this up, which is a shame. What a remarkable person. Highly recommended.

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5 out of 5 stars

By L.W. on 03-30-13

Great! From the first page to the last.....

First of all the writing is just great. Swept into their youth...confidence and insecurity in that swooshing action. I loved this aspect of their story. Yes it has it's tragedy also. It was so well written you could hardly feel it. These are characters you can appreciate. I could understnad why she/they stayed together. Something about that era was just so bi-polar!
I hope you will appreciate this book. I was so thrilled with the narration....I haven't heard that voice since "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt". In my opinion she is the Southern voice. Loved it....hope you do too.

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5 out of 5 stars

By Mariadela on 11-12-16

Loved loved this book

Wasn't very familiar with the history of the Fitzgeralds so the more I read the more I loved it! Very interesting and wild lives this 2 led. I enjoy historical fiction and this one was one the best ones I've read so far!

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5 out of 5 stars

By Rock Gal on 05-02-16

Wow!

Honestly this book was eye opening. All I remember ever learning about Zelda Fitzgerald was that the name was synonymous with "crazy". This book brought to life a vibrant person!

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4 out of 5 stars

By JGillSt on 05-07-16

Literary Women of the Early 20th Century

Zelda Sayre was a seventeen-year-old Southern belle when she met Scott in 1918. After Scott sold This Side of Paradise the two married and began the decadent life for which they are now well-known. Known as the quintessential Jazz Age couple, these two did nothing halfway. They partied hard, fought hard, hit rock bottom more than once, and were forever on the move.

The Fitzgeralds are known for their excessive alcohol intake, Scott's writer's block, money problems, and bouts with mental illness. Therese Anne Fowler fleshes out these details and connects them with living, breathing individuals. I found Zelda to be a very sympathetic character in Fowler's hands. I think many women can relate to the conflict between Zelda's desire to make something of herself and the expectations placed upon her by family and society. Scott, for all his contributions to modernist literature, is not particularly modern in his ideas of family life. Fowler also does a nice job conveying the Fitzgerald's codependency. The Fitzgerald's really were a mess. I can definitely understand why Zelda ended up having a breakdown. I feel for everyone who suffered from a mental illness in the past. The reeducation portions of the book, in particular, just sicken me.

I love reading about the other famous folk that Fitzgerald's partied with: The Steins, the Murphys, Picasso and Olga, Ford Maddox Ford, and many more. Ernest Hemingway comes across as a colossal jerk in Z.

Zelda was a talented person in her own right. She published many short stories (though several also include Scott's name on the byline) and a novel, and she was an artist and a ballet dancer.

I loved the audiobook performance. I highly recommend it.

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4 out of 5 stars

By MamasGottaRead on 06-22-16

Incredible narration!

What an insightful story! Ms. Fowler really enlightened me with her well-researched interpretation of Zelda & F. Scott's journey.

The narration was absolutely exquisite. Ms. Lamia has such a range of character voices, and switched so fluidly between Southern, Yankee, & French accents! Bravo!

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