Like so many of my generation, I've heard and read about the Fitzgerald/Hemingway/Stein/Murphey years in Paris and on the coast of France. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald, although a work of fiction, was a breath of fresh air regarding this period of excess, escape, and artistic richness.

Much of what Ms. Fowler wrote rang true. Her depiction of the era's limitations of women, particularly in the South, was dead on. I've actually wondered if southern-belle Zelda's mental illness was in part a ruse anchored in and triggered by F. Scott's instability, ego, and alcoholism.

I think this is a valuable addition to other works about this era when Americans could live abroad like kings and queens. When the literary and art worlds fed off each other to flourish. When men ruled the roost, and most women made their way in the world by any means other than brains. When successful men's wives were easily disposable.

If you've read Hemingway and Fitzgerald, and if you've explored this heady environment through works such as The Paris Wife and beyond, I think you'll enjoy Ms. Fowler's exploration of Zelda's psyche.

Recommended.

I enjoy the writing quite a bit, but I just felt angry for Zelda through a lot of it--the times she lived in and the people she surrounded herself with stunted her talent and it's just sad. Also, there was SUCH excess in this book--too much alcohol, too many fancy parties, too many people. It's the complete opposite to my nature and values, so I found it hard to relate.

May have read it a few years earlier. I didn't love it, but it certainly wasn't bad. I think probably Zelda was a great diarist but a merely okay novelist. I think her husband stole rather too much from her to ever be forgiven. But honestly, the story of them is more amazing than anything either of them wrote.

personal copy

Just this, for the time being:

http://www.thegloss.com/beauty/zelda-fitzgerald-biography-444/2/

I recall being affected by this article.

I can't help comparing this to another historical novel with a similar theme, The Paris Wife, and by comparison this one wasn't very impressive. Zelda's portrayal throughout the book felt a bit inconsistent — sometimes she was just as wild as Scott, other times she somehow seemed to become the level-headed one in the relationship. I was also not sure if the parts about Hemingway were convincing. It would be much more believable to leave some gray area, but Hemingway's entire portrayal was negative. What was quite convincing, though, was Zelda's struggle between balancing her own talent and aspirations for a career and her position as a famous writer's wife and muse.