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Gatsby's Girl: A Literary Jazz Age Love Story of F. Scott Fitzgerald and the Muse Behind Daisy Buchanan
Just as Jay Gatsby was haunted by Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fizgerald was haunted by his own great first love — a Chicago socialite named Ginevra. Alluring, capricious, and ultimately unavailable, she would become his first muse, the inspiration for such timeless characters as Gatsby's Daisy and Isabelle Borge in This Side of Paradise. Caroline Preston's astute perceptions of her characters and the cultural landscapes they inhabit have earned her work comparisons to to that of Anne Tyler, Alison Lurie, and Diane Johnson. Now, in this richly imagined and ambitious novel, Preston deftly evokes the entire sweep of Ginevra's life — from her first meeting with Scott to the second act of her sometimes charmed, sometimes troubled life. Ginevra was sixteen, a rich man’s daughter who had been told she was pretty far too often for her own good. Scott was nineteen, a poor boy full of ambition. They met at a country club dance in St. Paul, Minnesota, in January 1916. For almost a year they wrote each other letters — so long, breathless, and yearning that they often required more than one envelope. But despite their intense epistolary romance, the relationship wouldn’t last. After throwing him over with what he deemed “supreme boredom and indifference,” she impulsively married a handsome aviator from the right society background. Ruminating over what might have been had she picked the writer instead of the flier, she furtively reads the now famous Fitzgerald’s work. When she sees herself — much to her surprise — in his characters, it’s not just as the spoiled debutante he’d known; he’s also uncannily predicted the woman she’s become, cracks and all. An affecting story of two people, one famous, one known only through her portrayals in enduring works of fiction, Gatsby’s Girl is a tremendously entertaining and moving novel about the powerful forces of first love, memory, and art.
338 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2006
14 people are currently reading
958 people want to read
About the author
Caroline Preston
7 books270 followersAs a girl growing up in Lake Forest, Illinois, Caroline Preston used to pore through her grandmother’s and mother’s scrapbooks and started collecting antique scrapbooks when she was in high school. She attended Dartmouth College and received a master’s in American Civilization from Brown University. Inspired by her interest in manuscripts and ephemera, she worked as an archivist at the Peabody/Essex Museum and Harvard’s Houghton Library.
Preston is the author of three previous novels. Jackie by Josie, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, was drawn from her (brief) researching stint for a Jackie O. biography. Gatsby’s Girl chronicles F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first girlfriend who was the model for Daisy Buchanan.
In The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, she has drawn from her own collection of vintage ephemera to create a novel in the unique form of a 1920’s scrapbook.
She lives with her husband, the writer Christopher Tilghman, in Charlottesville, Virginia and has three mostly grown-up sons.
Preston is the author of three previous novels. Jackie by Josie, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, was drawn from her (brief) researching stint for a Jackie O. biography. Gatsby’s Girl chronicles F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first girlfriend who was the model for Daisy Buchanan.
In The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt, she has drawn from her own collection of vintage ephemera to create a novel in the unique form of a 1920’s scrapbook.
She lives with her husband, the writer Christopher Tilghman, in Charlottesville, Virginia and has three mostly grown-up sons.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews
November 11, 2018
RATING: 4 STARS
Ever since I read (and enjoyed) The Great Gatsby, I have been fascinated with the Jazz Age, Fitzgerald and other writers of his time. I found this to be an interesting book whether you like the Jazz Age or not. Much like her first book, Jackie by Josie, I was hooked from the first chapter. Before Zelda there was Ginerva - the girl Fitzgerald based Daisy on from The Great Gatsby. This novel tells the story of Ginerva and for me, it gives more heart to The Great Gatsby.
Ever since I read (and enjoyed) The Great Gatsby, I have been fascinated with the Jazz Age, Fitzgerald and other writers of his time. I found this to be an interesting book whether you like the Jazz Age or not. Much like her first book, Jackie by Josie, I was hooked from the first chapter. Before Zelda there was Ginerva - the girl Fitzgerald based Daisy on from The Great Gatsby. This novel tells the story of Ginerva and for me, it gives more heart to The Great Gatsby.
March 9, 2013
Bitch.
Ginevra Perry, you are such a BITCH.
I hate you, and I hate your stupid, winding, driveling, petty, uninteresting flop of a book...and you are 70 percent of that hatred, you wide-eyed devil's muse, you sickening debutante from the flattest planes of Hell.
You made me sick to my stomach.
You made me actually like the Great Gatsby ten times more than I did at first, because of you and your absurd little life and your having passionate sex with your son's tutor, you predictable little plot twist.
Let me be clear here: YOU. ARE. A. BITCH. And your life was a poorly chronicled soap opera.
Go deal with that.
Ginevra Perry, you are such a BITCH.
I hate you, and I hate your stupid, winding, driveling, petty, uninteresting flop of a book...and you are 70 percent of that hatred, you wide-eyed devil's muse, you sickening debutante from the flattest planes of Hell.
You made me sick to my stomach.
You made me actually like the Great Gatsby ten times more than I did at first, because of you and your absurd little life and your having passionate sex with your son's tutor, you predictable little plot twist.
Let me be clear here: YOU. ARE. A. BITCH. And your life was a poorly chronicled soap opera.
Go deal with that.
November 14, 2010
How I Came To Read This Book: I Read 'The Great Gatsby' last year and my friend knew I really liked it. Hence this book ended up in my Xmas gift last year.
The Plot: This book is a fictionalized retelling of the life of Ginevra King, the supposed muse for many of F. Scott Fitzgerald's women, including Daisy Buchanan in 'Gatsby'. In the book we follow the fictionalized Ginevra Perry through her whirlwind written romance with Fitzgerald, through to the conventional path she chooses as Fitzgerald's literary star rises and the moments they shared are played out again and again in his work. What's surprising is the encounters Ginevra has with Scott are actually real. The book is obviously dramatized regarding the portions of Ginevra's non-Fitzgerald life, including scandalous relationships, strained family bonds, and the emergence of a desperate woman from a promising beginning.
The Good & The Bad: I really have nothing bad to say about this book, other than sometimes it felt like Ginevra was a little too much of a modern Millie to be a realistic 1910/20/30 protagonist. Beyond that, I found the writing to be nearly effortless, a good blend of literary fiction and mass market appeal. Although Ginevra's life is largely made up, the fact this person actually existed and was clearly prevalent in so much of Fitzgerald's work was quite fascinating. Despite the somewhat stodgy context of the story's plot lines, Preston manages to give Ginevra's take and involvement with the major events of the period - the world wars, the stock market crash, and the depression - make sense with who her character is, without feeling contrived or done a million times. Ginevra herself is a realistic character that grows over the pages - from a flighty, vain teenager to a hollowed-out, wistful matron. In some ways it would have been interesting to get more in-depth with her darkest, least romantic days, but given that she was a romantic heroine in Fitzgerald's life, and the book spans only the time period when their lives were intertwined, I suppose it makes sense that it focuses on the most salacious elements of her existence - imagined or otherwise.
The Bottom Line: An incredibly readable book that pulls you along, with a very helpful and interesting afterword regarding the historical accuracies of certain plot points.
Anything Memorable?: Not in particular, although if you've read Gatsby, or several of the other texts mentioned in this book, you'll certainly enjoy seeing Ginevra come to life on the page.
50-Book Challenge: Book #50 in 2010 (!)
The Plot: This book is a fictionalized retelling of the life of Ginevra King, the supposed muse for many of F. Scott Fitzgerald's women, including Daisy Buchanan in 'Gatsby'. In the book we follow the fictionalized Ginevra Perry through her whirlwind written romance with Fitzgerald, through to the conventional path she chooses as Fitzgerald's literary star rises and the moments they shared are played out again and again in his work. What's surprising is the encounters Ginevra has with Scott are actually real. The book is obviously dramatized regarding the portions of Ginevra's non-Fitzgerald life, including scandalous relationships, strained family bonds, and the emergence of a desperate woman from a promising beginning.
The Good & The Bad: I really have nothing bad to say about this book, other than sometimes it felt like Ginevra was a little too much of a modern Millie to be a realistic 1910/20/30 protagonist. Beyond that, I found the writing to be nearly effortless, a good blend of literary fiction and mass market appeal. Although Ginevra's life is largely made up, the fact this person actually existed and was clearly prevalent in so much of Fitzgerald's work was quite fascinating. Despite the somewhat stodgy context of the story's plot lines, Preston manages to give Ginevra's take and involvement with the major events of the period - the world wars, the stock market crash, and the depression - make sense with who her character is, without feeling contrived or done a million times. Ginevra herself is a realistic character that grows over the pages - from a flighty, vain teenager to a hollowed-out, wistful matron. In some ways it would have been interesting to get more in-depth with her darkest, least romantic days, but given that she was a romantic heroine in Fitzgerald's life, and the book spans only the time period when their lives were intertwined, I suppose it makes sense that it focuses on the most salacious elements of her existence - imagined or otherwise.
The Bottom Line: An incredibly readable book that pulls you along, with a very helpful and interesting afterword regarding the historical accuracies of certain plot points.
Anything Memorable?: Not in particular, although if you've read Gatsby, or several of the other texts mentioned in this book, you'll certainly enjoy seeing Ginevra come to life on the page.
50-Book Challenge: Book #50 in 2010 (!)
June 27, 2012
A fictionalized account of Ginerva King, the muse and character basis for Daisy Buchanan from The Great Gatsby.
The point is that Fitzgerald made her more cruel and shallow than she was. She was an 17 year old girl that threw over a dreamer that was flunking geometry and had a drinking problem. She was careless, but she was a teenager.
This book does not need the reader to have read all of Fitzgerald's works or been familiar with his biography to enjoy this book. But, being a fan I loved it and found it fascinating.
The writer has good prose and I read this because I am a Fitzgerald fan. I wasn't especially expecting a good novel and was pleasantly surprised.
The point is that Fitzgerald made her more cruel and shallow than she was. She was an 17 year old girl that threw over a dreamer that was flunking geometry and had a drinking problem. She was careless, but she was a teenager.
This book does not need the reader to have read all of Fitzgerald's works or been familiar with his biography to enjoy this book. But, being a fan I loved it and found it fascinating.
The writer has good prose and I read this because I am a Fitzgerald fan. I wasn't especially expecting a good novel and was pleasantly surprised.
June 15, 2015
While reading this, I fell in love with F. Scott Fitzgerald all over again. I felt so bad for how Ginerva treated him. I had to do everything in my might not to cry when I got to the ending. I really suggest reading this.
May 10, 2011
I really wanted to like this book. I like the genre of historical fiction/non fiction as it pertains to a unique vantage point told by a female of a larger known male-driven story.
But frankly, this book was bad. Dare I say awful.
I should have known by the self-righteous biography on the back flap that this was not going to live up to a book like Loving Frank. The author managed to get three ivy-leaque degrees into her bio and mention her marriage to an evidently famous author. Big deal. Your book was bad.
Here is why I wanted to like this book:
-I loved Loving Frank and was told this book was a lot like Loving Frank
-I was fascinated to hear the back story of F. Scott Fitzgerald's muse, albeit exaggerated and fictionalized
-I was curious to hear about hoity toity life in Lake Forest at the turn of the century
Here is why I thought this book was awful:
-the "protagonist", Ginevra was poorly developed. If this book was successful, the reader would have forgiven her her self-absorption and idiocy as being a sheltered girl. As it was, she just comes across as a spoiled brat
-all other characters in this look were poorly developed if not at all, making the happenings of the book unrealistic, unprobable, and not at all fascinating. For example, the affair the Ginerva had with her son's tutor? Lame. The split with her husband a result of many things but partly because if her aiding of her sick son in feeding his obsession with movies? Awful.
-This book could have chronicled the life-crisis of a woman living during a pivotal time period, but it just fell flat
Why did I finish this book when it was so awful? Because I was on vacation and it was the only book I brought with me.
Please don't make the same mistake I did. Don't be fooled into thinking this book will be like Loving Frank, Devil in the White City, Lucy, etc.
It's just not worth the time.
But frankly, this book was bad. Dare I say awful.
I should have known by the self-righteous biography on the back flap that this was not going to live up to a book like Loving Frank. The author managed to get three ivy-leaque degrees into her bio and mention her marriage to an evidently famous author. Big deal. Your book was bad.
Here is why I wanted to like this book:
-I loved Loving Frank and was told this book was a lot like Loving Frank
-I was fascinated to hear the back story of F. Scott Fitzgerald's muse, albeit exaggerated and fictionalized
-I was curious to hear about hoity toity life in Lake Forest at the turn of the century
Here is why I thought this book was awful:
-the "protagonist", Ginevra was poorly developed. If this book was successful, the reader would have forgiven her her self-absorption and idiocy as being a sheltered girl. As it was, she just comes across as a spoiled brat
-all other characters in this look were poorly developed if not at all, making the happenings of the book unrealistic, unprobable, and not at all fascinating. For example, the affair the Ginerva had with her son's tutor? Lame. The split with her husband a result of many things but partly because if her aiding of her sick son in feeding his obsession with movies? Awful.
-This book could have chronicled the life-crisis of a woman living during a pivotal time period, but it just fell flat
Why did I finish this book when it was so awful? Because I was on vacation and it was the only book I brought with me.
Please don't make the same mistake I did. Don't be fooled into thinking this book will be like Loving Frank, Devil in the White City, Lucy, etc.
It's just not worth the time.
September 17, 2010
I enjoyed Gatsby's Girl. The story was sad in many ways: the course of F. Scott Fitzgerald's life; much of Ginevra Perry Granger Pullman's life. But I liked the way Ginevra grew as a person throughout the book, and came to realize her errors and flaws (whether or not this is true of Ginevra King, the real person on which the character is based). I liked that she not only followed Scott's work (originally fueled by curiosity re: what he'd said "about" her) but that she cared what happened to him. I also liked Fitzgerald's apparent ability to appraise himself with a fair amount of justice: extraordinarily talented, while also a "cracked plate."
I couldn't quite figure out Fitzgerald's fascination with Ginevra -- which apparently lasted a lifetime. Was it lust? Unattainability? An illusion he wanted to maintain throughout his own increasingly disappointing, dissipated life? Then again, why is any one person fascinated by any other person?
The author did a good job of depicting the reality of relationships: the inevitable mundaneness of many aspects of married life; distractions and temptations; poor parenting and deep love by parents for their children.
Though I was a college English major, I didn't read much Fitzgerald. Gatsby's Girl will prompt me to jump in.
May 4, 2008
Caroline Preston has an easy going and pleasant writing style. In addition, she lets her readers into Ginerva's character well enough that even though she is an unbelievably self centered girl, you end up liking her a lot. She reminds of those people who such a joy to talk to at dinner parties because they have witty observations and are quite clever but you can't have a real relationship with them because they are too self absorbed.
Another insight from Preston is that Ginerva has no idea what kind of person she really is. There are moments when she admits to being self centered but she has plenty of good reasons why she's not a terrible person. I htink most self centered people are really liek this and they don't understand why people turn against them.
This book is a fictionalized version of a woman whom F. Scott Fitzgerald had dated when he was in college. She si everything he wants to be and yet she's out of his reach because she doesn't love him. Her perosnality and choices lead to drama in her life but she comes out in much better shaoe than Fitzgerald did because she believed in herself whereas Fitzgerald didn't. Of course, she believed in herself because all she truly cared about was herself.
Another insight from Preston is that Ginerva has no idea what kind of person she really is. There are moments when she admits to being self centered but she has plenty of good reasons why she's not a terrible person. I htink most self centered people are really liek this and they don't understand why people turn against them.
This book is a fictionalized version of a woman whom F. Scott Fitzgerald had dated when he was in college. She si everything he wants to be and yet she's out of his reach because she doesn't love him. Her perosnality and choices lead to drama in her life but she comes out in much better shaoe than Fitzgerald did because she believed in herself whereas Fitzgerald didn't. Of course, she believed in herself because all she truly cared about was herself.
August 8, 2015
Interesting fictionalization account of F Scott Fitzgerald' so-called muse and the basis of Daisy Buchanan . The book beginning was well written with many believe able plot twists and characters who themselves resembled the many people of Fitzgerald stories. However, the main character, Ginerva Perry Granger Pullman became taxing and tedious, much like the tortured players in many Fitzgerald pieces. At best the plot slogged into idiocy at the conclusion, with a rather overly dramatic climax that crashed afterwords and just drifted into oblivion. The story of the lost generation full of losers in whom the reader will lose interest before the end.
October 3, 2009
Love Fitzgerald, don't love a mediocre knock off. I thought the author took a lot of liberties with the main characters. Granted, it's fiction, but everything was aggravatingly predictable——like she developed the characters in a away that didn't seem believable just so she could tie everything into a neat "moral" at the end.
July 12, 2022
I loved this little book! Very easy read and quite entertaining.
February 17, 2009
I think I need to start this review off with a confession. This book was selected as the November book club selection and I tend to read my book club books slowly, reading a set number of pages per day so that I've given sufficient time to understanding the story and that it's fresh in my mind when it's time to discuss it. I should have started this book on Tuesday and read 10 pages per day, I picked it up last night (Thursday), fully intended to read only 30 pages to get caught up to where I needed to be; however, I could not stop reading and read the whole book straight through yesterday, staying up until 3:00 a.m. (not something that this old bag does too often). Seriously, the book is that good. I cried at the end.
So, let's get to it... why was this book so great? Well, Preston herself says it best when she says, while describing the way that F.Scott Fitzgerald writes letters to Ginevra, "This is what a true writer does, I decided. Makes real life better than it is," (38). I have always kind of had a crush on F. Scott Fitzgerald, mostly because I had a small amount of passing knowledge that his books all tended to be somewhat semi-autobiographical, and I fancied that he looked like a young Robert Redford who played Jay Gatsby in the excellent movie adaptation of The Great Gatsby. However, I had only read The Great Gatsby once (my sophomore year in high school as required reading) and only with a passing interest--I tended more to like the romanticized idea of Fitzgerald as a writer that I had created in my head better than any of his actual writing (because I just hadn't invested the time to read it). I've got a copy of This Side of Paradise, his first novel, on my book shelf that I've been intending to read for some time, but hadn't gotten around to it. All that to say that Preston writes about the life and loves of F. Scott Fitzgerald with such heart-breaking beauty that I'm even more enamored with this self-destructive author than I had been prior to reading her book and I have purposed within myself to read the entire Fitzgerald bibliography within 12 months.
Here's how she does it: Preston takes relatively well known facts about the relationship between Fitzgerald and Ginevra King (the real-life muse who inspired Fitzgerald), stays ridiculously faithful to them (only changing the timeline and some minor elements for the purposes of pacing) and adding one or two minor story lines that flesh out the character of Ginevra (seemingly). But she goes beyond just a retelling of this well-known romantic (and chaste) fling to infuse it with the passion and sadness that is the essence of F. Scott Fitzgerald. It appears that she tries to romanticize Ginevra, making her feelings in later life more akin to Scott's as she is forlorn over the life she has made for herself, when in reality it seems that Ginevra didn't ever regret how badly she had treated Fitzgerald.
There are some really great themes in this book that shine through, most notably being that falling in love with the idea of a person is much easier than accepting them for who they truly are with all of their faults (although this is always futile and definitely leads to disappointment). This is kind of an irony because Preston creates her fictionalized versions of real-life people so beautifully that you can't help but fall in love with her idealized caricatures, often forgetting that they are truly human, it's such a catch-22.
The other significant theme is that, rather than finding your self actualization by living vicariously through the successes and failures of others (seen in contemporary society by our culture's absolute hunger for celebrity gossip), one should find their happiness in personal fulfillment, being satisfied in their life and the personal story they have created based on who they've chosen to love and the experiences they have personally taken. It's a great lesson and something that I've really been thinking about a lot lately, and loved that this book brought this up again.
I only gave this book a B+ rating for a couple of perceived flaws. First, there are incredibly redeeming characters in the book that don't get the treatment that they deserve--granted, Preston might not have been able to know how to bring Ginevra's roommate Marie (the individual who introduces the ill-fated couple) into the story in a more significant way, but it could have really helped because Marie was the only person in F. Scott Fitzgerald's life who actually seemed to understand his emotions. Marie could have actually changed the course of history (at least in this book) if she had been a more central and influential character. This also happens with a couple of other characters, such as Ginevra's sister and brother-in-law, but it seems that Preston was trying to remain painstakingly faithful to actual history, and didn't allow herself to meddle with these characters.
This brings me to my second flaw: the only significant deviation (as far as I could tell) that Preston takes from reality is that she creates an Oedipal complex between Ginevra's second son, Avery, and Ginevra; however, she never talks about how this weird relationship was created (actually Ginevra seemed like a good mother who was finally able to find fulfillment in her relationship with her husband and loved her children). Rather than see their relationship develop and the dysfunction blossom, Preston drops this plot bomb, which comes out of nowhere, and expects us to just accept it. What's unfortunate is that it makes me wonder if this is telling of Preston's ability to develop plot (I haven't read any of her other works, so I wouldn't really know), but it just seems suspect that the one big fictional thing she did is not done well.
However, all is not lost. As I said earlier, I cried at the end. Check out this passage where F. Scott Fitzgerald's daughter (Frances "Scottie" Fitzgerald Lanahan) is explaining to Ginevra (after Scott's death) why Scott would have had Ginevra's letters that she wrote during their brief tryst typed and bound together:
"I think Daddy was trying to remember himself. When things got bad in his life, when Mummy was sick and he couldn't finish Tender is the Night and he was drinking too much, he just wanted to remember what it felt like to be nineteen, in love with a girl," (299).
So heart-breaking and tragic. I had invested so much in coming to love this misunderstood literary genius (granted, I had invested this over the course of six hours of rabid reading and might have been slightly delirious at the late hour), but I was so saddened that he was still holding onto that experience 20 years later for hope and meaning in his life.
All that to say, if you like anything by F. Scott Fitzgerald, you'll probably love this book. It's a great (and in my case, a quick) read.
So, let's get to it... why was this book so great? Well, Preston herself says it best when she says, while describing the way that F.Scott Fitzgerald writes letters to Ginevra, "This is what a true writer does, I decided. Makes real life better than it is," (38). I have always kind of had a crush on F. Scott Fitzgerald, mostly because I had a small amount of passing knowledge that his books all tended to be somewhat semi-autobiographical, and I fancied that he looked like a young Robert Redford who played Jay Gatsby in the excellent movie adaptation of The Great Gatsby. However, I had only read The Great Gatsby once (my sophomore year in high school as required reading) and only with a passing interest--I tended more to like the romanticized idea of Fitzgerald as a writer that I had created in my head better than any of his actual writing (because I just hadn't invested the time to read it). I've got a copy of This Side of Paradise, his first novel, on my book shelf that I've been intending to read for some time, but hadn't gotten around to it. All that to say that Preston writes about the life and loves of F. Scott Fitzgerald with such heart-breaking beauty that I'm even more enamored with this self-destructive author than I had been prior to reading her book and I have purposed within myself to read the entire Fitzgerald bibliography within 12 months.
Here's how she does it: Preston takes relatively well known facts about the relationship between Fitzgerald and Ginevra King (the real-life muse who inspired Fitzgerald), stays ridiculously faithful to them (only changing the timeline and some minor elements for the purposes of pacing) and adding one or two minor story lines that flesh out the character of Ginevra (seemingly). But she goes beyond just a retelling of this well-known romantic (and chaste) fling to infuse it with the passion and sadness that is the essence of F. Scott Fitzgerald. It appears that she tries to romanticize Ginevra, making her feelings in later life more akin to Scott's as she is forlorn over the life she has made for herself, when in reality it seems that Ginevra didn't ever regret how badly she had treated Fitzgerald.
There are some really great themes in this book that shine through, most notably being that falling in love with the idea of a person is much easier than accepting them for who they truly are with all of their faults (although this is always futile and definitely leads to disappointment). This is kind of an irony because Preston creates her fictionalized versions of real-life people so beautifully that you can't help but fall in love with her idealized caricatures, often forgetting that they are truly human, it's such a catch-22.
The other significant theme is that, rather than finding your self actualization by living vicariously through the successes and failures of others (seen in contemporary society by our culture's absolute hunger for celebrity gossip), one should find their happiness in personal fulfillment, being satisfied in their life and the personal story they have created based on who they've chosen to love and the experiences they have personally taken. It's a great lesson and something that I've really been thinking about a lot lately, and loved that this book brought this up again.
I only gave this book a B+ rating for a couple of perceived flaws. First, there are incredibly redeeming characters in the book that don't get the treatment that they deserve--granted, Preston might not have been able to know how to bring Ginevra's roommate Marie (the individual who introduces the ill-fated couple) into the story in a more significant way, but it could have really helped because Marie was the only person in F. Scott Fitzgerald's life who actually seemed to understand his emotions. Marie could have actually changed the course of history (at least in this book) if she had been a more central and influential character. This also happens with a couple of other characters, such as Ginevra's sister and brother-in-law, but it seems that Preston was trying to remain painstakingly faithful to actual history, and didn't allow herself to meddle with these characters.
This brings me to my second flaw: the only significant deviation (as far as I could tell) that Preston takes from reality is that she creates an Oedipal complex between Ginevra's second son, Avery, and Ginevra; however, she never talks about how this weird relationship was created (actually Ginevra seemed like a good mother who was finally able to find fulfillment in her relationship with her husband and loved her children). Rather than see their relationship develop and the dysfunction blossom, Preston drops this plot bomb, which comes out of nowhere, and expects us to just accept it. What's unfortunate is that it makes me wonder if this is telling of Preston's ability to develop plot (I haven't read any of her other works, so I wouldn't really know), but it just seems suspect that the one big fictional thing she did is not done well.
However, all is not lost. As I said earlier, I cried at the end. Check out this passage where F. Scott Fitzgerald's daughter (Frances "Scottie" Fitzgerald Lanahan) is explaining to Ginevra (after Scott's death) why Scott would have had Ginevra's letters that she wrote during their brief tryst typed and bound together:
"I think Daddy was trying to remember himself. When things got bad in his life, when Mummy was sick and he couldn't finish Tender is the Night and he was drinking too much, he just wanted to remember what it felt like to be nineteen, in love with a girl," (299).
So heart-breaking and tragic. I had invested so much in coming to love this misunderstood literary genius (granted, I had invested this over the course of six hours of rabid reading and might have been slightly delirious at the late hour), but I was so saddened that he was still holding onto that experience 20 years later for hope and meaning in his life.
All that to say, if you like anything by F. Scott Fitzgerald, you'll probably love this book. It's a great (and in my case, a quick) read.
November 26, 2019
Fantastic historical fiction based on the actual lives & letters of F. Scott Fitzgerald's and his muse, his first love, Ginevra King. In the book the author fictionalizes her name to Ginevra Perry and gives the most stimulating account of life of pre-war debutantes who quickly didn’t necessarily want to or were forced to change with post WWI, closely followed by the stock market crash. Then with all the social & technological changes brought on by both wars.
I love how the author weaves us from F. Scott Fitzgerald's first encounter with Ginevra, mid-life encounters with Zelda & Ginevra, and then finally, one last encounter with her just before he dies. All while using the actual letters/history of Fitzgerald and interviews with his daughter Scottie or just the historical documents on file.
Again, I almost forget this was fictionalized. The real Ginevra King was scant with her info and I think she eloquently stated the perfect reason: maybe she resented the implication that her very short romance with Scott Fitzgerald when she was just 16 was the only interesting event in her life. Touché!
But for Fitzgerald, she was pivotal. I knew there was a first girlfriend of Fitzgerald and that she was the inspiration for a book but I thought it was only one book and that Zelda inspired the majority of his work. Little did I know!!
So glad I read this to give more info on the makeup of Fitzgerald – again, tho this is fictionalized, Preston does an impressive job of making her characters come to life.
Will read many of the books the author cites in her Historical note disclaimer. Great Q&A with author at the end of book too. What a gem of a read.
I love how the author weaves us from F. Scott Fitzgerald's first encounter with Ginevra, mid-life encounters with Zelda & Ginevra, and then finally, one last encounter with her just before he dies. All while using the actual letters/history of Fitzgerald and interviews with his daughter Scottie or just the historical documents on file.
Again, I almost forget this was fictionalized. The real Ginevra King was scant with her info and I think she eloquently stated the perfect reason: maybe she resented the implication that her very short romance with Scott Fitzgerald when she was just 16 was the only interesting event in her life. Touché!
But for Fitzgerald, she was pivotal. I knew there was a first girlfriend of Fitzgerald and that she was the inspiration for a book but I thought it was only one book and that Zelda inspired the majority of his work. Little did I know!!
So glad I read this to give more info on the makeup of Fitzgerald – again, tho this is fictionalized, Preston does an impressive job of making her characters come to life.
Will read many of the books the author cites in her Historical note disclaimer. Great Q&A with author at the end of book too. What a gem of a read.
June 4, 2021
Ginevra was 15 when she was visiting her boarding school roommate during Christmas break and met 19 year old Princeton undergraduate Scott Fitzgerald. Upon that first meeting, sparks flew, and instigated a flurry of letters in the following months. Ginevra is initially awed by his romanticism and they spend another magical evening in New York at the end of the school year. But when Scott asks to visit her at her Lake Forest home that summer, she quickly loses interest and dumps him pretty harshly. Despite her shabby treatment of him, he still considers her his first love.
Years later, married and unhappy, Ginevra learns that Scott is a published author. As she follows his career and his writing, she sees herself in many of Scott’s female characters, both the positive and negative characteristics. Yes, she is selfish, haughty, and blasé, but she has some redeeming qualities.
I enjoyed how this imperfect woman was idealized and turned into Scott’s muse. The historical backdrop was well written and I especially appreciated the familiar Chicago and suburban settings. One of Ginevra’s girlfriends was an obvious inspiration for Jordan Baker and there were a few other little literary nods throughout. Seeing a literary giant through Ginevra’s perspective was entertaining, even if she wasn’t always the most likeable character.
Years later, married and unhappy, Ginevra learns that Scott is a published author. As she follows his career and his writing, she sees herself in many of Scott’s female characters, both the positive and negative characteristics. Yes, she is selfish, haughty, and blasé, but she has some redeeming qualities.
I enjoyed how this imperfect woman was idealized and turned into Scott’s muse. The historical backdrop was well written and I especially appreciated the familiar Chicago and suburban settings. One of Ginevra’s girlfriends was an obvious inspiration for Jordan Baker and there were a few other little literary nods throughout. Seeing a literary giant through Ginevra’s perspective was entertaining, even if she wasn’t always the most likeable character.
November 2, 2019
I have to read this Caroline Preston because I have really enjoyed two of her other books lately. This one didn't have the ephemera that the first did, it was all story. Ginerva is a wealthy debutante kind of girl, whose parents are borderline snobbish. She is a little rebellion and gets in trouble with a boy, to make her more responsible her parents will ship her off to boarding school. Ginerva falls into her old ways of being a rebel rather quickly as this all-girl school. She will attend a party in St. Paul that will introduce her to a man that she will care about for the rest of her days, a budding would-be writer by the name of Scott Fitzgerald. Scott would display his affection for the drink from the first scene we have with him. He will also show us his wit and charm and we can just envision those good looks and flowery prose that he is known for. Scott is NOT the kind of man Ginerva's parents want her to wed or even hang around for that matter. We all know that Scott gets dumped in some way because we know he will be wed to Zelda until the end of his days, you just have to read the book to see why he and Ginerva were not together. Don't forget to remember that this is a fictionalized book based on real-life people.
I have read many books on the life of F Scott Fitzgerald and this is the first time I thought, I wonder if his life could have been different if he traveled a different path? Then I question, would he have been such a brilliant writer without the struggles and trials he faced?
I have read many books on the life of F Scott Fitzgerald and this is the first time I thought, I wonder if his life could have been different if he traveled a different path? Then I question, would he have been such a brilliant writer without the struggles and trials he faced?
April 23, 2025
I have become greatly disenchanted with modern historical fiction, especially when they are supposed to depict real people, but are written in first person. I used to love them and now they ring so false. Ginevra was insufferable before I even got to chapter three and chapter three dragged painfully. By chapter seven, I absolutely hated her, and I always supposed (before this) that I would have liked the real Ginevra King, despite her alleged selfishness and debutante ways. By part two I was just bored. According to Preston it would seem Ginevra never cared about Scott at all and just played with him like you would a kitten with a yarn ball. Part of what makes Fitzgerald's masterpiece The Great Gatsby so beautiful and palatable, despite all the lies and flashy behavior amongst the characters, is its brevity. The moment Preston's knock off became longer than the original, I was beyond tired. The most interesting part of the book was part where the infamous Shakespeare & Co. Bookstore makes an appearance. My favorite part was the historical note at the end.
November 28, 2017
I actually finished this book very quickly. I knew nothing about Fitzgerald having a first lost love and basing so many of his characters on her, most notably Daisy. Even though this was a fictionalized turn it seems the author did her research and was true to the natures of her subjects. Reading this made me want to go back and re-read some Fitzgerald works I am familiar with and seek out some that I am not. It also sent me in search of more works by this author.
August 8, 2022
A fun, breezy read using F. Scott Fitzgerald and his "first love", Ginevra King (in the book: Ginevra Perry) as characters for an entirely fictional story. I appreciated the author's note at the end laying out what was and wasn't accurate. I would recommend it for fans of "The Paris Wife" and "Z: A novel of Zelda Fitzgerald."
April 30, 2025
My second Caroline Preston book and it was delightful. Just as with Jackie by Josie, F Scott Fitzgerald became a real person to me. This in fiction form follows the life of F. Scott’s first love and the model for the female leads in his novels. The historical setting of the Jazz Age was very appealing to me.
January 26, 2017
DNF. Second strikeout last night. Ginerva was bland and about as fun as watching paint dry. Too much tell and not enough show. Seriously, who writes something like: "'I guess so,' I said in a soft, sad voice."
August 3, 2017
I've always been fascinated by Scott Fitzgerald so when I stumbled upon this book I knew I had to read it. It didn't disappoint me. It was well-written, with interesting plot and amazing characters. The fact that it's based on a true story that the author explains at the end is a plus.
January 16, 2019
Originally I thought this book would be about the girl from Fitzgeralds perspective, but not the other way around. The book was a difficult read for me due to the character being dislikeable but it was still an alright book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2018
Another interesting read... people so easily tear down their own future without even realizing it.
February 22, 2018
Really easy read. Transported me to the time period and the lifestyle she lived.
October 27, 2021
3.5 I had a nice time reading this one. I enjoyed the storyline, cultural references and the progression of the characters. I now want to read some more books by Fitzgerald, out of curiosity.
May 18, 2022
An interesting take on the life of Ginevra King compiled from real sources and Fitzgerald's writings. A novel of "what might have been" with the same sad endings.
August 8, 2020
Overall, I enjoyed reading about Fitzgerald and his romance with Ginerva. I had never heard of this woman before this book. I wrongly assumed his female characters were based off of Zelda. As a Chicagoan, I loved learning about 1920s Chicago. Ginerva's story is a tragic one, but she does fair better than the Fitzgeralds. There's nothing too profound about this novel but I would recommend it for someone as obsessed with the Lost Generation as I am.
April 5, 2016
At the outset of this book,15 year old Chicago Socialite Ginevra(named for a painting by Leonard Di Vinci) is shipped off to Westover,a strict boarding school as punishment a brief "engagement" to a young man from her social set. She's pretty,intelligent(though not intellectual) and a major flirt. At a sledding party given by her roommate,she meets another young man who,unbeknownst to her at the time,is to become an integral footnote to her life,F.Scott Fitzgerald,who at the time is a student and aspiring writer attending Princeton(though barely hanging on grade-wise.) Although Ginvera's first impression of him is that he's too short and slight for her tastes,he wins her over with his wit,charm and his pretty-boy good looks;even sending her a picture of himself dressed as a very convincing-looking Chorus Girl from a performance with the Triangle Club,an on-campus theatrical troupe,for which he writes many of the plays and song they perform. They exchange long,besotted letters every few days(so romantic,the days before social media!)and although she corrects his spelling,she can tell through his very accurate observations of people,that he does indeed have writing talent,though she doesn't understand his wanting do that for a living. Their brief affair ends when Scott invites himself to Ginerva's family mansion in Lake Forest,an uber-wealthy suburb of Chicago,before her goes home after visiting his dysfunctional family in St.Paul. He makes off-putting remarks about her home,her friends and,like his father, is rapidly developing a taste for alcohol. Still a "Daddy's Girl' at heart,and becoming rapidly disenchanted with Scott anyway,she listens to her father when he advises her to end the relationship because "Rich Girls Don't Marry Poor Boys" so after a party where she meets someone who is much more "suitable";William(Billy)Granger,an aviator who is training to fight in WW1 once the U.S enters the war. Meanwhile, Scott is sent on the next train back to Princeton and out of Ginevra's life,or so she thinks. A few years later,as a married( and bored) young mother,she sees one of Scott's stories in a magazine with the byline that he is a promising young writer. She also notices that he writes about her friends and most of all herself,in a cutting fashion. Ginevra ambivalent at first,then starts clipping his stories and later reads his novels and sees herself in both Isabelle Borges the careless socialite from "This Side Of Paradise" and most of all as the iconic Daisy Buchanan from his landmark work "The Great Gatsby". The years pass and as Ginevra becomes steadily more disenchanted with her husband,her fascination with Scott rekindles and while not nearly as self-destructive as her former boyfriend,leads her to make some very rash decisions regarding her own life. Although F.Scott Fitzgerald wrote books that appealed to both genders,I think this is primarily a "Woman's Book" as it focuses with Ginevra and issues that many women deal with such as making the right choice in a husband,raising children(one of her two sons seems to have Autism) and personal fulfillment and in that this book succeeds very well;with the fact that the main character was a famous writer's "Muse" adding an interesting dimension. I did like this book,but kept in mind that many of the incidents were the product of author's imagination so if you want a more accurate account of Ginevra,she recommends a book that is one. One thing that bothered me was that every time a movie or book was mentioned it was brought up as "I was reading that new book,watching the recently released (fill in the blank)" I mean,we know this takes place in the past so why keep reminding us? But,overall,I found this book to be a quick,interesting read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 30, 2012
I think that The Great Gatsby contains some of the most beautiful writing of the 20th century, and F. Scott Fitzgerald's portrayals of the overprivileged, aimless young adults of a society that didn't realize it was on the brink of major change have always appealed to me, as an outsider looking in. As it happens, Fitzgerald was a bit of an outsider in that world himself, and much of his early exposure to it came through his romance with a young Chicago pre-debutante named Ginevra King during his years at Princeton. In Gatsby's Girl, Caroline Preston has woven the known facts about their relationship into a novel exploring how it affected them both in the years after it was over.
Fitzgerald acknowledged on several occasions - including in conversation with his daughter - that several of his female characters were based on his memories and impressions of his first love, Ginevra, and what he imagined had become of her. Caroline Preston imagines Ginevra into a fictional character again here - re-christened Ginevra Perry, possibly in recognition of one of the characters she inspired, Josephine Perry, protagonist of several of Fitzgerald's short stories.
The real Ginevra King claimed not to have read any of Fitzgerald's writing or to have followed his career, but fictional Ginevra Perry couldn't say the same. One thing I might say about Ginevra Perry is that deep down, she's rather shallow. Her infatuation with Scott Fitzgerald wears off even as his feelings for her seem to grow, and when her father suggests he's not "suitable," she doesn't need much more encouragement to cast him off. By then, she's already got her eye on dashing would-be aviator Billy Granger, and at Scott's request, she discards all of the letters he wrote to her - although, thirty-odd years later, she learns that he did not do the same.
When she accidentally discovers that her former beau has become an acclaimed author - and the toast of the expatriate community in Paris, along with his wife Zelda, considered the original "flapper" of the Roaring '20's - Ginevra becomes caught up with "the one that got away," starting a clip file on Scott and catching up on all of his books. In several of his characters - Isabelle in This Side of Paradise, Josephine Perry, and The Great Gatsby's Daisy Buchanan - she recognizes herself, and this fuels both her renewed fascination with Scott and her unrest with her own life as wife to Billy and mother of two boys.
The premise of this novel intrigued me, and the early-20th-century time period interests me. I found Gatsby's Girl to be a fast and absorbing read, and even if it was difficult to like Ginevra sometimes, it wasn't hard to understand and feel empathy for her. It must be a curious experience to discover that you're a muse.
Fitzgerald acknowledged on several occasions - including in conversation with his daughter - that several of his female characters were based on his memories and impressions of his first love, Ginevra, and what he imagined had become of her. Caroline Preston imagines Ginevra into a fictional character again here - re-christened Ginevra Perry, possibly in recognition of one of the characters she inspired, Josephine Perry, protagonist of several of Fitzgerald's short stories.
The real Ginevra King claimed not to have read any of Fitzgerald's writing or to have followed his career, but fictional Ginevra Perry couldn't say the same. One thing I might say about Ginevra Perry is that deep down, she's rather shallow. Her infatuation with Scott Fitzgerald wears off even as his feelings for her seem to grow, and when her father suggests he's not "suitable," she doesn't need much more encouragement to cast him off. By then, she's already got her eye on dashing would-be aviator Billy Granger, and at Scott's request, she discards all of the letters he wrote to her - although, thirty-odd years later, she learns that he did not do the same.
When she accidentally discovers that her former beau has become an acclaimed author - and the toast of the expatriate community in Paris, along with his wife Zelda, considered the original "flapper" of the Roaring '20's - Ginevra becomes caught up with "the one that got away," starting a clip file on Scott and catching up on all of his books. In several of his characters - Isabelle in This Side of Paradise, Josephine Perry, and The Great Gatsby's Daisy Buchanan - she recognizes herself, and this fuels both her renewed fascination with Scott and her unrest with her own life as wife to Billy and mother of two boys.
The premise of this novel intrigued me, and the early-20th-century time period interests me. I found Gatsby's Girl to be a fast and absorbing read, and even if it was difficult to like Ginevra sometimes, it wasn't hard to understand and feel empathy for her. It must be a curious experience to discover that you're a muse.
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April 6, 2016This was by far the best book I have ever read. Personally I loved how is coincided with The Great Gatsby because just like Gatsby had always loved Daisy F. Scott Fitzgerald always loved Ginevra. It was so unique to read because it caused you to conclude why F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote The Great Gatsby and all of his other famous novels. Gatsby's Girl was about the main character Ginevra, the narrator, and how she fell in love easily causing her to be careless just like Daisy in the Great Gatsby. She met Scott at her friends party when she was on winter break. He wasn't like the men her parents hoped she would marry because he didn't have much money but they fell madly in love. Sadly as time passed with the influence of her parents she decided to remove herself from him and find someone more suitable for her life style. Juts like Daisy did to Gatsby. She married an aviator who she loved but it wasn't the same with him as it was with Scott. Scott was forced to move on in his life and married the socialite Zelda Fitzgerald(this happened in real life). She was crazy and gene though at times he had fun, he was often depressed because he missed Ginevra. By a series of events after Ginevra realizes the novels he wrote were about her she does everything she can to find Scott and finally they meet again. I won't give away what happens in the end not to spoil it. Why I loved this book so much was because I fell in love with the story of The Great Gatsby and too know what possible happened to create the story line of The Great Gatsby is just so fascinating to me. When reading the book I often found myself getting lost in the reading because it was just so interesting. It was descriptive yet tasteful and did a good job of creating suspense at the end of each chapter. I wish the book was longer because I am sad its over. It story was just so great and I would recommend this book to anyone. It is an easy read but a great story.
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