Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler, 2013

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald is a fictional account of Zelda Fitzgerald based on actual events.

Daughter of a Southern judge and from a family of senators, Zelda met F. Scott Fitzgerald when he was stationed in Alabama.

The courtship was a whirlwind where Zelda finally agreed to move to New York City and marry Scott Fitzgerald after his first book, This Side of Paradise was published.

Thus begun the whirlwind love of the Fitzgerald where they were the "it" couple, invited to the best parties, and written up about in the newspaper.

Zelda embraced her new found celebrity and lived up the Flapper image outlined in Scott Fitzgerald's story and other attention grabbing acts throughout her and her husband's robust social life.

Fueled by alcohol, reckless spending and insecurities for both Zelda and Scott, their marriage would continue overseas to Paris where their contemporaries included Gertrude Stein, Picasso and Ernest Hemingway.

Some of the Parisian scenes took place in Les Deux Magots in Saint-Germai, where many artists convened.  It's neat to think that just a month ago during my Parisian vacation, I was at the Les Deux Magots enjoying lunch and a glass of wine where the Fitzgeralds, Hemingways, and Picasso used to hang out. 

Les Deux Magots

Although talented, Scott Fitzgerald's insecurities and drinking prevented him from writing and eventually drove Zelda away.

Zelda returned to her love for dance and dedicated herself to ballet eight hours a day after a medical condition her prevented her from drinking and keeping up with her husband.

Eventually, Zelda would be committed into a mental institution before returning home to her family in Montgomery, Alabama, where she spent the rest of her life in and out of institutions.

This book reminds me of the Paris Wife, a fictional biography of Hadley Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway's wife.  Both wives lived in the shadow of their talented, fickle and philandering husbands, whose lives revolved around themselves and their writing.

The book kicks off with the following T.S. Eliot quote: If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?

- read sometime end of 2013

Close-And-Not-So-Close-To-Home Reads

The end of August and beginning of September was a busy time as I took my first vacation since starting my new job end of April.  As a result, I did not have a chance to post about the books I read during that time period.

Faces of America by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 2010
A series of biographies of well known Americans, Faces of America is a genological and anthropological study of Americans.  The book tells the story of Americans, the story of immigrants.

Given the politically contentious topic of immigration during these past few years, this book makes you reconsider what it means to be an immigrant considering that well-known, established Caucasian Americans such as Meryl Streep and uber-American Stephen Colbert come from immigrants.

The celebrities that Gates profiles represent a vast ethnic spectrum - Europeans, Jamaicans, Chinese, Syrian - and provides a thoughtful look at how immigrants have been perceived over the decades.

Gates' research for this book not only includes conducting extensive investigation throughout the world to research ancestor lines, but also sophisticated DNA testing.  A surprising finding is that despite which ethnic group people fall into or their ancestor's origins, the majority of DNA makeup is shared.  Yet, there is so conflict and racism over the small percentage of unshared DNA that does exist amongst people.

Close to Home
As a daughter of non-Caucasian immigrants, this book is particularly interesting since I'm constantly asked where I am from, and people are not referring to which State.  It reminds me of the Ken Tanaka's short about where people are from - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWynJkN5HbQ.

A few years ago, Gates made headlines as the Harvard professor who was arrested for attempting to break into his own house in Cambridge, about a mile from where I live, after returning from China where he was researching Yo Yo Ma's ancestors.

The result was a "Beer Summit" at the White House where Gates and the arresting officer met with Obama. 

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka J.K. Rowling), 2013
I admit that I fell into the hype and picked up The Cuckoo's Calling after the big reveal of who the author really was.

I also picked it up since I would be vacationing in not-so-close-to-home England so I thought the novel would be a proper read for my travels.

The novel did have it's English-ism with the frequent drinking of tea and mention of kit bag, an overnight bag or a bag to bring a change of clothing for sports.

Similar to the Harry Potter series, The Cuckoo's Calling has well thought-out characters and carefully laid out events that tie together at the end to uncover the murder mystery.

While the ending is a bit unexpected, the novel was a bit too dense and clues a bit obscure to make it a truly compelling murder mystery like Gone Girl, which had me staying up late at night to find out what happened next and then flipping back through the pages to re-read the clues after having finished the book.

That said, mysteries are not a genre I gravitate towards, so they need to be especially gripping for me to really enjoy.

Five Star Billionaire by Tash Aw, 2013

I really enjoyed Five Star Billionaire.  The five central characters come from different backgrounds but all end up in Shanghai to reinvent themselves.

Once the characters have reinvented themselves, they continue to struggle as their lives quickly become empty.

The only exception is Yanyan, the roommate of Phoebe, a former factory girl from the countryside.  She remains true to herself, and as a result, let's herself get swallowed up in the ruthless city.

The stories are intertwined and there are near misses where, ironically, characters would have realized their aspirations if only they were honest instead of trying to be someone else to achieve their dreams.

In a city that moves so quickly where people are judged for the wrong things, honesty is tough to maintain.

The other aspect of the book that I enjoyed is the Asian cultural references, where trendy 20-somethings have green tea muffins in the coffee shop and single women in their late 20s and 30s are called shengnu or "leftovers."

Not that I enjoy the disrespectful way the Chinese refer to single women, but just how Aw captures the essence of Shanghai.

Quote of Note:
"You must appreciate that time is always against you. It is never kind or encouraging.  It gnaws away invisibly at all good things.  Therefore, if you have any desire to accomplish anything, even the simplest task, do it swiftly and with great purpose, or time will drag it away from you."

- August 2013

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, 2002

The Secret Life of Bees is one of those books that transport you to another time and place.  The time is 1964 and the place is South Carolina. 

Similar to The Help, The Secret Life of Bees is filled with strong African-American female characters who believe passionately in their civil rights.

The story is narrated by a young girl, Lily, who ends up running away with her Nanny in search of answers to her dead mother's past.

Memorable characters help Lily through her journey, including sister who are named after months: April, May, June, and August; mean spirited T. Ray; speak-her-mind Rosaleen; strong, heroic Zach; and thousands of buzzing bees.

Spiritual Strength
Heavy in spiritual symbolism, a black Madonna serves as a focal point throughout the story.

Having seen statues of Black Marys throughout cathedrals in Spain, I remember the images being jarring and powerful.  However, after reading the rituals around Black Mary in The Secret Life of Bees, I have a greater sense of awe and appreciation.

An excerpt that speaks to the spiritual theme in the novel:

   "Our Lady is not some magical being out of somewhere, like a fairy godmother.  She's not the statue in the parlor.  She's something inside of you.  Do you understand what I'm telling you?"
   "Our Lady is inside me," I repeated, not sure I did.
   "You have to find a mother inside yourself.  We all do.  Even if we already have a mother, we still have to find this part of ourselves."  She held out her hand to me.  "Give me your hand."
   I lifted my left hand and placed it in hers.  She took it and pressed the flat of my palm up against my chest, over my beating heart.  "You don't have to put your hand on Mary's heart to get strength and consolation and rescue, and all the other things we need to get through life," she said.  "You can place it right here on your own hear.  Your own heart."
...
   "When you're unsure of yourself," she said, "when you start pulling back into doubt and small living, she's the one inside saying, 'Get up from there and live like the glorious girl you are.'  She's the power inside you, you understand?"
   Her hands stayed where they were but released their pressure.  "And whatever it is that keeps widening your heart, that's Mary, too, not only the power inside you but the love.  And when you get down to it, Lily, that' the only purpose grand enough for a human life.  Not just to love - but to persist in love."

A Conversation with Sue Monk Kidd
As an aspiring, but non-practicing, writer, I was particularly interested in the following answer from Kidd about writing her novel:

What was the process of writing the novel? How long did it take to complete it?

The novel began as a short story in 1993. At the time I wrote it, I wanted to develop the story into a novel, but I'd only just begun to write fiction, and felt I needed more time as an apprentice before taking on a novel. I put the story aside.

Years later I was invited to read my fiction at the National Arts Club in New York. I dug out my short story, "The Secret Life of Bees." After the reading, I was again filled with the desire to turn it into a novel. I still didn't feel ready, but I figured I might never feel ready, and meanwhile I wasn't getting any younger.

It took me a little over three years to complete the novel. The process of writing it was a constant balancing act between what writing teacher Leon Surmelian referred to as "measure and madness."

He suggested that writing fiction should be a blend of these two things. That struck me as exactly true. On one hand, I relied on some very meticulous "measures," such as character studies, scene diagrams, layouts of the pink house and the honey house. I had a big notebook where I worked out the underlying structure of the book. I relied more heavily, however, on trying to conjure "madness," which I think of as an inexplicable and infectious magic that somehow flows into the work.

Before I started the novel, I created a collage of images that vividly caught my attention. They included a pink house, a trio of African-American women, and a wailing wall. I propped the collage on my desk with no idea how, or even whether, these things would turn up in the novel.

Inducing "madness" also meant that I often left my desk to sit on the dock overlooking the tidal creek behind our house and engage in a stream of reverie about the story. I considered this earnest work.