Katherine Harbour's Blog - Posts Tagged "the-great-gatsby"

The Chosen and the Beautiful
What if Jay Gatsby really did make a deal with the Devil? That's the premise behind this lush retelling of The Great Gatsby from the POV of Jordan Baker, a young woman whose clever observances are far more interesting than Nick Carraway's. Jordan is Vietnamese and adopted. Nick is vulnerable and easily influenced and very in love with Gatsby. Jordan and Daisy Buchanan (who is as awful as she is in the original) have grown up together and their friendship is somewhat one-sided. All three are drawn to Gatsby's fabulous and fantastical parties, where demon liquor and exotic hook-ups are available. The lyrical descriptions are lush, the characters fascinating. Each is given poignant reasons with a touch of the supernatural, for what they do. With all the glitter of the Roaring Twenties and Jordan's cynical perspective, this is one of my favorite reads of the year.