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A Kiss from Mr Fitzgerald
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It’s 1922 in the Manhattan of gin, jazz and prosperity. Women wear makeup and hitched hemlines – and enjoy a new freedom to vote and work. Not so Evelyn Lockhart, forbidden from pursuing her passion: to become one of the first female doctors.
Chasing her dream will mean turning her back on the only life she knows: her competitive sister, Viola; her conservative parents; and ...more
Chasing her dream will mean turning her back on the only life she knows: her competitive sister, Viola; her conservative parents; and ...more
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Paperback, 400 pages
Published
April 26th 2016
by Hachette Australia
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I agonised over which book to read first in 2017, given the multitude options. I'm glad to report I've picked a very enjoyable novel, that I gobbled up over two days.
Young, feisty Evie Lockhart, wants to do more with her life than just be a wife and a lady of society. There weren't many options for well-to-do girls in the 1920's America. Fate has a way of showing Evie what she should do with her life. With the help of her nice neighbour and potential mother-in-law, Mrs Whitman, she ends up going ...more
Young, feisty Evie Lockhart, wants to do more with her life than just be a wife and a lady of society. There weren't many options for well-to-do girls in the 1920's America. Fate has a way of showing Evie what she should do with her life. With the help of her nice neighbour and potential mother-in-law, Mrs Whitman, she ends up going ...more

What a wonderful story! A story I didn’t want to end.
Once you start reading you will not want to put this book down!
From the manors of Concord to the speakeasies of Manhattan, Evie dances her way to a doctor’s degree.
”She was doing what she wanted to do, living the life she chose to live, not the life someone else had chosen for her.”
But could a spurned suitor take everything she had battled for away from her?
This is a story of high society, secrets, lies, blackmail, misunderstandings and death ...more
Once you start reading you will not want to put this book down!
From the manors of Concord to the speakeasies of Manhattan, Evie dances her way to a doctor’s degree.
”She was doing what she wanted to do, living the life she chose to live, not the life someone else had chosen for her.”
But could a spurned suitor take everything she had battled for away from her?
This is a story of high society, secrets, lies, blackmail, misunderstandings and death ...more

Since reading A Kiss From Mr Fitzgerald, I have been trying to gather my thoughts together to write a review that will do this book justice. As the year draws to a close, I would have to say that A Kiss from Mr Fitzgerald is my top pick for the best historical fiction novel of 2016.
Why do I rate this book so highly? Well it has a lot to do with a combination of the book’s features that click together in such a fashion that it just works so well. The main character of Lester’s novel is perhaps th ...more
Why do I rate this book so highly? Well it has a lot to do with a combination of the book’s features that click together in such a fashion that it just works so well. The main character of Lester’s novel is perhaps th ...more

Apr 14, 2020
paulinereidbookreviewer
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
Ellen Read
Recommended to paulinereidbookreviewer by:
Ellen Read
Book Review by Pauline Reid ⭐ A Kiss from Mr Fitzgerald by Natasha Lester
⭐
Genre - Historical Fiction - Historical Romance - Romance
⭐
What Is This Book About
It’s 1922 in the Manhattan of gin, jazz and prosperity. Women wear makeup and hitched hemlines – and enjoy a new freedom to vote and work. Not so Evelyn Lockhart, forbidden from pursuing her passion: to become one of the first female doctors.
.
Chasing her dream will mean turning her back on the only life she knows: her competitive sister, Viola ...more
⭐
Genre - Historical Fiction - Historical Romance - Romance
⭐
What Is This Book About
It’s 1922 in the Manhattan of gin, jazz and prosperity. Women wear makeup and hitched hemlines – and enjoy a new freedom to vote and work. Not so Evelyn Lockhart, forbidden from pursuing her passion: to become one of the first female doctors.
.
Chasing her dream will mean turning her back on the only life she knows: her competitive sister, Viola ...more

I’ve waited quite a while to read my first Natasha Lester book, but I always knew she would be my kind of author. Her story of 1920s New York did not disappoint.
Before I jumped in, I decided to spend half an hour re-reading the short story prequel A Beautiful Dare. It’s not essential, but I’m glad I did, as it introduces the reader to the main character, Evie, the rest of the Lockhart family, the two Whitman brothers, and to Rose, the Radcliffe student who sparks Evie’s interest in studying medi ...more
Before I jumped in, I decided to spend half an hour re-reading the short story prequel A Beautiful Dare. It’s not essential, but I’m glad I did, as it introduces the reader to the main character, Evie, the rest of the Lockhart family, the two Whitman brothers, and to Rose, the Radcliffe student who sparks Evie’s interest in studying medi ...more

4.5 ★s
A Kiss From Mr Fitzgerald is the third book by Australian author, Natasha Lester. Evelyn Lockhart has finished college. Well, as much college as her parents believe appropriate for a woman, as much college as her father is willing to fund. After all, it’s 1922, and Evie’s ambition should be to find a husband, be a good wife and bear him children.
It has been assumed, since they were both little, that Evie will marry Charlie Whitman, heir to the Whitman banking empire, so literature and emb ...more
A Kiss From Mr Fitzgerald is the third book by Australian author, Natasha Lester. Evelyn Lockhart has finished college. Well, as much college as her parents believe appropriate for a woman, as much college as her father is willing to fund. After all, it’s 1922, and Evie’s ambition should be to find a husband, be a good wife and bear him children.
It has been assumed, since they were both little, that Evie will marry Charlie Whitman, heir to the Whitman banking empire, so literature and emb ...more

Some of the world’s most famous women (movie stars, celebrities, writers and intellectuals) were born out of the upheaval of the women’s rights movement in the 1920’s – women such as Coco Chanel, Zelda Fitzgerald, Marlene Dietrich, Edith Wharton, Amelia Earhart and Florence Sabin. In A Kiss from Mr Fitzgerald, author Natasha Lester introduces us to yet another – Evelyn Lockhart who is about to prove that she’s not your average 1920’s young woman.
Although only a figment of Natasha’s imagination, ...more
Although only a figment of Natasha’s imagination, ...more

Mar 30, 2016
Kathryn
rated it
it was amazing
Shelves:
hachette-nz,
2016-published,
historical-fiction,
5-stars,
arc,
australian-author,
read-in-2016
Loved it.
From the time I opened and started reading A Kiss From Mr Fitgerald, I was enchanted and found myself returning to the book every moment I could. I loved it.
It is set in the 1920's when to be a woman was a matter of making a good marriage and then raising children, attending the right parties and embroidering at home. Imagine! However Evie dreams bigger than that. An incident close to home, a very sad one, leads her to her chosen path. She decides she wants to be an obstetrician. A very ...more
From the time I opened and started reading A Kiss From Mr Fitgerald, I was enchanted and found myself returning to the book every moment I could. I loved it.
It is set in the 1920's when to be a woman was a matter of making a good marriage and then raising children, attending the right parties and embroidering at home. Imagine! However Evie dreams bigger than that. An incident close to home, a very sad one, leads her to her chosen path. She decides she wants to be an obstetrician. A very ...more

I wish I could give this book 6 stars, or even 10. When Evie Lockhart set her mind to becoming an obstetrician, despite the scruples of mid-1920s New York telling her it wasn't possible, she also set off on a journey which I think will capture the hearts and imaginations of all readers. Evie is a true heroine-- determined, self-reliant, unapologetic but kind hearted. While love may be in the cards for her, Evie's happily ever after is of her own making, and after closing this book I find myself
...more

A delightfully delicious love story set in decadent 1920s New York.
Headstrong, feisty Evie Lockhart faces certain social ruin when she chases her dream of becoming a doctor during a time when societal ladies were expected to be satisfied within the confines of the home. Even more shocking, is Evie's desire to become an obstetrician.
In pursuit of her dream Evie faces challenges that cut to the very core of her being.
Lester has delivered an inspiring tale of tender love and lays bare how difficu ...more
Headstrong, feisty Evie Lockhart faces certain social ruin when she chases her dream of becoming a doctor during a time when societal ladies were expected to be satisfied within the confines of the home. Even more shocking, is Evie's desire to become an obstetrician.
In pursuit of her dream Evie faces challenges that cut to the very core of her being.
Lester has delivered an inspiring tale of tender love and lays bare how difficu ...more

It's been weeks since I finished this and I still can't find all the words.
I'd been waiting for this book to come out since the middle of last year, since I discovered the inspirational Natasha Lester's blog and maybe, perhaps, began to slightly stalk her online ... Natasha has heaps of writing advice to share and I couldn't wait to see how she applied it all in her historical fiction novel.
Wow.
Natasha's writing is a bridge between literary and commercial fiction. There is romance, mystery, me ...more
I'd been waiting for this book to come out since the middle of last year, since I discovered the inspirational Natasha Lester's blog and maybe, perhaps, began to slightly stalk her online ... Natasha has heaps of writing advice to share and I couldn't wait to see how she applied it all in her historical fiction novel.
Wow.
Natasha's writing is a bridge between literary and commercial fiction. There is romance, mystery, me ...more

This was excellent, but not what I expected. First, for some reason I wasn't expecting what was essentially, a love story. Second, it was far more graphic than I'd anticipated in terms of the obstetric discussions.
I haven't read Natasha Lester before, but I had heard a lot of the hype when this book came out and I have a lot of friends who read it and loved it.
I can definitely see why it was a hit.
The writing style is very approachable. The research to me felt impeccable. It got all the feels fr ...more
I haven't read Natasha Lester before, but I had heard a lot of the hype when this book came out and I have a lot of friends who read it and loved it.
I can definitely see why it was a hit.
The writing style is very approachable. The research to me felt impeccable. It got all the feels fr ...more

What an exciting, heart-breaking and devastating story of life in 20s, what an inspiring woman our heroine is.
Historical novels aren't always my thing and generally when I think historical I head back to the 18th and 19th centuries rather than the early part of the 20th.
A Kiss From Mr Fitzgerald is set in the middle of the 1920s, with prohibition in force and a major change brewing. Lester has painted a vivid picture of a New York life in the 20s that makes me look at all the things we take for ...more
Historical novels aren't always my thing and generally when I think historical I head back to the 18th and 19th centuries rather than the early part of the 20th.
A Kiss From Mr Fitzgerald is set in the middle of the 1920s, with prohibition in force and a major change brewing. Lester has painted a vivid picture of a New York life in the 20s that makes me look at all the things we take for ...more

I’m not a fan of historical fiction OR romance so I started this book with some reticence - figuring I might as well give it a try.
And I kept reading and reading because I LOVED it!
It's the first book I've read by Lester and she scored on all fronts. The characters were great; it was eloquently written (so effortless reading); and the plot itself addictive.
It wasn't the dreary historical piece I was dreading and nor was it some Barbara Taylor Bradford-like saga sweeping several generations.
Much ...more
And I kept reading and reading because I LOVED it!
It's the first book I've read by Lester and she scored on all fronts. The characters were great; it was eloquently written (so effortless reading); and the plot itself addictive.
It wasn't the dreary historical piece I was dreading and nor was it some Barbara Taylor Bradford-like saga sweeping several generations.
Much ...more

Evie throws herself into New York and into a life that is completely shocking for the time (1922)... she decides she wants to be a Doctor. And not just any Doctor... an obstetrician! Add to this her night job as a Ziegfeld girl and you have a recipe for a book that embraces the glitz and glam of the time, while exploring the historical progression of women in the medical field.
This book is a lot of fun and has some great characters and romances, but it also deftly explores the role of women and ...more
This book is a lot of fun and has some great characters and romances, but it also deftly explores the role of women and ...more

A Kiss from Mr Fitzgerald by Natasha Lester, I fell in love with.
It is a captivating, tragic love story set amid the fragile hearts and glamour of 1920's New York.
The story of Evelyn Lockhart with her dreams and emotions captured my heart.
I was there, I was a Ziegfield Follie, I was the obstetrician!
I was the one longing for The Kiss.
Set in a world of Manhattan, gin, jazz and speakeasies, sequins and feathers on costumes.
I moved through this book like I was on a filmstrip.
A novel filled with im ...more
It is a captivating, tragic love story set amid the fragile hearts and glamour of 1920's New York.
The story of Evelyn Lockhart with her dreams and emotions captured my heart.
I was there, I was a Ziegfield Follie, I was the obstetrician!
I was the one longing for The Kiss.
Set in a world of Manhattan, gin, jazz and speakeasies, sequins and feathers on costumes.
I moved through this book like I was on a filmstrip.
A novel filled with im ...more

Jun 29, 2017
Kerran Olson
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2017-challenge
4.5 *some spoilers* Absolutely love this book. I love the glitz and glamour of anything Fitgerald-esque, and I like how this book portrays Evie's struggles as she is not supported by her family when she starts to move towards more modern, 'scandalous'' goals. The contrast between Evie's 'proper' upbringing and family and the decadent 1920s lifestyles portrayed in many other books (Fitzgerald in particular) is really well done. I also love Tommy, and think that Evie and Tommy's relationship progr
...more

Review originally posted on A Keyboard and an Open Mind March 19, 2018:
This book reminded me how good historical fiction can be. I actually went back and checked how much of it I had read in the past year, and it turned out not much. In 2017, I read four historical fiction books, and I wasn’t really into any of them. I’m glad this one reminded me how good it feels to get sucked into a different time and place.
After witnessing a woman die of childbirth in the woods while the men in her life look ...more
This book reminded me how good historical fiction can be. I actually went back and checked how much of it I had read in the past year, and it turned out not much. In 2017, I read four historical fiction books, and I wasn’t really into any of them. I’m glad this one reminded me how good it feels to get sucked into a different time and place.
After witnessing a woman die of childbirth in the woods while the men in her life look ...more

Natasha Lester is an Australian writer based in Perth, and A Kiss from Mr Fitzgerald is her first foray into historical fiction, after two contemporary tales published by Fremantle Press.
I was irresistibly drawn to her book by its gorgeous cover and the promise of its title, A Kiss From Mr Fitzgerald. I love books set in the 1920s, which was such a heady period of glamour and new freedoms. And I was intrigued by the premise: the heroine, Evelyn, is determined to become an obstetrician, at a tim ...more
I was irresistibly drawn to her book by its gorgeous cover and the promise of its title, A Kiss From Mr Fitzgerald. I love books set in the 1920s, which was such a heady period of glamour and new freedoms. And I was intrigued by the premise: the heroine, Evelyn, is determined to become an obstetrician, at a tim ...more

There were so many things I loved about this book...
The backstory about women having to fight to be treated as equals in the 1920's (especially when it came to education and careers); the luscious setting of New York - jazz, speakeasies, Ziegfeld Follies, fashion and fabulous architecture (I only wish I had read it while I was in New York earlier this year!); the description of obstetrics in the 1920s (I'm really happy to have given birth in the current era); the love story between Evelyn and Th ...more
The backstory about women having to fight to be treated as equals in the 1920's (especially when it came to education and careers); the luscious setting of New York - jazz, speakeasies, Ziegfeld Follies, fashion and fabulous architecture (I only wish I had read it while I was in New York earlier this year!); the description of obstetrics in the 1920s (I'm really happy to have given birth in the current era); the love story between Evelyn and Th ...more

A lovely gentle read that comes also with a positive message about following your dreams and working hard to achieve what might seem the impossible. The novel was set in her heady and lively days of New York in the 20s, a challenging time for women who wanted to make their way in professions that were not deemed suitable for them. For Evie she surprised everyone, in more ways than one, which makes for a captivating romance as well as a solid commentary of the times.

If Lizzie Bennett had been born in the 1920s I imagine she’d be just like Evie Lockhart - determined to be more than just someone’s wife. The love story was a little lacking at times but overall an inspiring read that’ll make you want to visit a speakeasy. If you enjoyed Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, you’ll love this.

In 2012, Natasha Lester was my guest at one of my early Stories on Stage events. Few of the audience had heard of her; I was the only one who had read her two books. She was polished and professional; in fact, she was so well prepared that audience members were left open-mouthed at the end of her talk. Fast forward three-and-a-half years. These days, through a combination of sheer hard work, belief and talent, Natasha is very well known in the Perth writing community. She’s highly regarded for h
...more

THIS TALE OF a young woman with her heart set on becoming one of just a handful of female Doctors in booming Charleston-era America is a stirring, blood pumping, fascinating and highly entertaining way to spend three hours of your life. Not only do we get to know, and fall in love with the book’s main character, but the reader is blessed with a history lesson on what life was like back when men ruled just about every aspect of western civilisation.
The first shock of the book, however, comes at ...more
The first shock of the book, however, comes at ...more

May 06, 2017
Brenda
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Brenda by:
Veronica ⭐️
Stuck at home with her parents and sister, expected to embroider and marry the right man, Evelyn Lockhart longed for more. Her dreams of becoming a doctor had been frowned upon by her family; she was forbidden to study in university and become one of the nation’s first women doctors – to deliver babies and care for their mothers no less. But Evie was nothing if not determined and if estranging her family and the man she was expected to marry to follow her dreams was what it took, then so be it.
...more

A Kiss from Mr Fitzgerald by Natasha Lester
I loved this book and don’t hesitate to give it 5 stars.
It’s the 1920s in Manhattan. A new era where women enjoy more freedom but not without a struggle to achieve it.
Evie Lockhart is one of these women. Evie wants to follow her dream of being an obstetrician but even in New York with its gin, jazz, glitter and modernity, a woman wanting to become a doctor is all but ostracized.
After leaving her comfortable home, her conservative family, and Charlie - ...more
I loved this book and don’t hesitate to give it 5 stars.
It’s the 1920s in Manhattan. A new era where women enjoy more freedom but not without a struggle to achieve it.
Evie Lockhart is one of these women. Evie wants to follow her dream of being an obstetrician but even in New York with its gin, jazz, glitter and modernity, a woman wanting to become a doctor is all but ostracized.
After leaving her comfortable home, her conservative family, and Charlie - ...more

I enjoyed this a whole lot. A backdrop of the swinging 20's and the Ziegfeld follies was always going to be fun, but add in themes around suffrage and it was a winner for me.
Things I really enjoyed about this book:
- Well I already mentioned the backdrop, but I'll mention it again!
- I enjoyed the plot of a young woman fighting against family, society, and patriarchy to become an obstetrician.
- I hadn't expected to enjoy reading about early obstetrics as much as I did. Thank you-know-who (not Vold ...more
Things I really enjoyed about this book:
- Well I already mentioned the backdrop, but I'll mention it again!
- I enjoyed the plot of a young woman fighting against family, society, and patriarchy to become an obstetrician.
- I hadn't expected to enjoy reading about early obstetrics as much as I did. Thank you-know-who (not Vold ...more

Natasha Lester has done a wonderful job of depicting the struggle of a young women named Evie, who after a life changing event that ended in tragedy for a friend, embarks on a journey to go where no woman has gone before. To become an obstetrician. The fly in the ointment is that she must leave all that she ever cared for, to make it into medical school. With no support from her family, she finds herself dancing at the Follies to pay her way. Add in a love triangle, with unequal sides of course,
...more

May 30, 2016
Nicki Markus
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-historical
It's lucky I ended up reading this while my husband was on night shifts, as once I started, I couldn't put it down and stayed up late two nights in a row to finish it. A Kiss From Mr Fitzgerald captivated me from page one. Evie is a character who is immediately approachable and engaging. Right from the start, I felt I knew her and wanted her to succeed. There were some good twists along the way. A couple of times, I thought I knew what was going to happen, but then something changed, taking the
...more
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Natasha Lester is the New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of THE PARIS ORPHAN / THE FRENCH PHOTOGRAPHER and THE PARIS SEAMSTRESS.
Prior to writing, she worked as a marketing executive for L’Oreal, managing the Maybelline brand, before returning to university to study creative writing.
Her first historical novel, the bestselling A Kiss from Mr Fitzgerald, was published in 2016. This was ...more
Prior to writing, she worked as a marketing executive for L’Oreal, managing the Maybelline brand, before returning to university to study creative writing.
Her first historical novel, the bestselling A Kiss from Mr Fitzgerald, was published in 2016. This was ...more
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“The blossom trees extended their jewelled fingers into the sky and petals drifted down to wreath Evelyn's hair.”
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“She slipped off her shoes and tossed them onto the ground, grabbed hold of the tree, gaining a foothold on the lowest branch and then the next.”
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