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The Lees of Happiness
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (1896-1940) was an Irish American Jazz Age novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the twentieth century. He was the self-styled spokesman of the Lost Generation - Americans born in the 1890s who came of age during World War I. He finished four novels, left a fifth unfinished, and wrote dozens of short stories. The 1920s proved the most influential decade of Fitzgeralds development. His debut novel, This Side of Paradise (1920) examines the lives and morality of post-World War I youth. Flappers and Philosophers (1920) was his first collection of short stories. His second novel, The Beautiful and Damned (1922), demonstrates an evolution and maturity in his writing, and provides an excellent portrait of America during the Jazz Age, as does Tales of the Jazz Age (1922). The Great Gatsby, which many consider his masterpiece, was published in 1925. It has since been adapted for the theatre and filmed several times. His last novel was Tender is the Night (1934).
48 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1920
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About the author
F. Scott Fitzgerald
2,206 books25.7k followersFrancis Scott Key Fitzgerald, widely known simply as Scott Fitzgerald, was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age, a term he popularized in his short story collection Tales of the Jazz Age. During his lifetime, he published four novels, four story collections, and 164 short stories. Although he achieved temporary popular success and fortune in the 1920s, Fitzgerald received critical acclaim only after his death and is now widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century.
Born into a middle-class family in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Fitzgerald was raised primarily in New York state. He attended Princeton University where he befriended future literary critic Edmund Wilson. Owing to a failed romantic relationship with Chicago socialite Ginevra King, he dropped out in 1917 to join the United States Army during World War I. While stationed in Alabama, he met Zelda Sayre, a Southern debutante who belonged to Montgomery's exclusive country-club set. Although she initially rejected Fitzgerald's marriage proposal due to his lack of financial prospects, Zelda agreed to marry him after he published the commercially successful This Side of Paradise (1920). The novel became a cultural sensation and cemented his reputation as one of the eminent writers of the decade.
His second novel, The Beautiful and Damned (1922), propelled him further into the cultural elite. To maintain his affluent lifestyle, he wrote numerous stories for popular magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's Weekly, and Esquire. During this period, Fitzgerald frequented Europe, where he befriended modernist writers and artists of the "Lost Generation" expatriate community, including Ernest Hemingway. His third novel, The Great Gatsby (1925), received generally favorable reviews but was a commercial failure, selling fewer than 23,000 copies in its first year. Despite its lackluster debut, The Great Gatsby is now hailed by some literary critics as the "Great American Novel". Following the deterioration of his wife's mental health and her placement in a mental institute for schizophrenia, Fitzgerald completed his final novel, Tender Is the Night (1934).
Struggling financially because of the declining popularity of his works during the Great Depression, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood, where he embarked upon an unsuccessful career as a screenwriter. While living in Hollywood, he cohabited with columnist Sheilah Graham, his final companion before his death. After a long struggle with alcoholism, he attained sobriety only to die of a heart attack in 1940, at 44. His friend Edmund Wilson edited and published an unfinished fifth novel, The Last Tycoon (1941), after Fitzgerald's death. In 1993, a new edition was published as The Love of the Last Tycoon, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli.
Born into a middle-class family in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Fitzgerald was raised primarily in New York state. He attended Princeton University where he befriended future literary critic Edmund Wilson. Owing to a failed romantic relationship with Chicago socialite Ginevra King, he dropped out in 1917 to join the United States Army during World War I. While stationed in Alabama, he met Zelda Sayre, a Southern debutante who belonged to Montgomery's exclusive country-club set. Although she initially rejected Fitzgerald's marriage proposal due to his lack of financial prospects, Zelda agreed to marry him after he published the commercially successful This Side of Paradise (1920). The novel became a cultural sensation and cemented his reputation as one of the eminent writers of the decade.
His second novel, The Beautiful and Damned (1922), propelled him further into the cultural elite. To maintain his affluent lifestyle, he wrote numerous stories for popular magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's Weekly, and Esquire. During this period, Fitzgerald frequented Europe, where he befriended modernist writers and artists of the "Lost Generation" expatriate community, including Ernest Hemingway. His third novel, The Great Gatsby (1925), received generally favorable reviews but was a commercial failure, selling fewer than 23,000 copies in its first year. Despite its lackluster debut, The Great Gatsby is now hailed by some literary critics as the "Great American Novel". Following the deterioration of his wife's mental health and her placement in a mental institute for schizophrenia, Fitzgerald completed his final novel, Tender Is the Night (1934).
Struggling financially because of the declining popularity of his works during the Great Depression, Fitzgerald moved to Hollywood, where he embarked upon an unsuccessful career as a screenwriter. While living in Hollywood, he cohabited with columnist Sheilah Graham, his final companion before his death. After a long struggle with alcoholism, he attained sobriety only to die of a heart attack in 1940, at 44. His friend Edmund Wilson edited and published an unfinished fifth novel, The Last Tycoon (1941), after Fitzgerald's death. In 1993, a new edition was published as The Love of the Last Tycoon, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
December 30, 2025
Melancholic (3.8 ⭐️)
This was a very interesting and quietly devastating story.
We’re given two parallel lives, two versions of marriage, and two very different kinds of loss.
The first follows a couple who marry happily, only to discover that love alone isn’t enough. They want each other, yet can’t accept what the other lacks. Small dissatisfactions grow heavier with time, until divorce becomes inevitable. While the separation happens, one of them is never truly able to move on, love doesn’t always end when a relationship does.
The second story is the true tragedy.
Here we have two people who are genuinely right for each other, only for life to turn cruel when the husband falls ill. Fitzgerald captures this descent with heartbreaking precision. The wife’s agony is slow, quiet, and suffocating. She watches the man she loves fade away bit by bit, as life is slowly drained from him — and from her as well.
She spends her days caring for him, clinging desperately to any sign of life, even when it’s barely there. Long, lonely days filled with false hope that keeps her alive while also killing her slowly. Parts of her die alongside him. By the time he’s gone, she’s already been hollowed out.
All she’s left with is memory — a past life that feels intensely close to her heart yet strangely distant, almost as if it belonged to someone else.
This was captured beautifully. Quiet, restrained, and emotionally devastating.
The only part that left me slightly confused was the subtle emotional closeness between her and her husband’s friend — and the mirrored interest from his side. It remained innocent and never crossed any lines, even after her husband’s death and the friend’s divorce. In the end, they stay bound not by romance, but by loyalty, grief, and shared memory — connected only through the man they both loved and the life that once was.
It’s a story about how life doesn’t always reward love fairly, and how happiness can slip away in ways that are neither dramatic nor loud — just slow, inevitable, and deeply human.
This was a very interesting and quietly devastating story.
We’re given two parallel lives, two versions of marriage, and two very different kinds of loss.
The first follows a couple who marry happily, only to discover that love alone isn’t enough. They want each other, yet can’t accept what the other lacks. Small dissatisfactions grow heavier with time, until divorce becomes inevitable. While the separation happens, one of them is never truly able to move on, love doesn’t always end when a relationship does.
The second story is the true tragedy.
Here we have two people who are genuinely right for each other, only for life to turn cruel when the husband falls ill. Fitzgerald captures this descent with heartbreaking precision. The wife’s agony is slow, quiet, and suffocating. She watches the man she loves fade away bit by bit, as life is slowly drained from him — and from her as well.
She spends her days caring for him, clinging desperately to any sign of life, even when it’s barely there. Long, lonely days filled with false hope that keeps her alive while also killing her slowly. Parts of her die alongside him. By the time he’s gone, she’s already been hollowed out.
All she’s left with is memory — a past life that feels intensely close to her heart yet strangely distant, almost as if it belonged to someone else.
This was captured beautifully. Quiet, restrained, and emotionally devastating.
The only part that left me slightly confused was the subtle emotional closeness between her and her husband’s friend — and the mirrored interest from his side. It remained innocent and never crossed any lines, even after her husband’s death and the friend’s divorce. In the end, they stay bound not by romance, but by loyalty, grief, and shared memory — connected only through the man they both loved and the life that once was.
It’s a story about how life doesn’t always reward love fairly, and how happiness can slip away in ways that are neither dramatic nor loud — just slow, inevitable, and deeply human.
June 8, 2022
Короткий рассказ о том, как судьба, а вернее, крошечный тромб в головном мозге, разбивает вдребезги семейное счастье. Мне показалось ненатуральной такая уж идеальная успешность Роксаны Миллбанк и ее мужа Джеффри Картайна, ее идеальная красота и его поразительная талантливость. Рассказ написан талантливо, живо, но все же поразительная верность бывшей артистки Роксаны, которая научилась ходить на лыжах, чтобы не оставлять надолго Джеффри одного, которая спала на кушетке подле него и держа его за руку и преданно ухаживала за ним, могущим только дышать, в течении одиннадцати лет, не может не восхищать. Но насколько это поведение реалистично для бывшей звезды, все еще молодой красавицы? Верность дружбе со стороны Гарри тоже восхищает, но совершенно непонятна его супруга Китти, грязнуля с грязной шеей и отвратительным розовым халатом, с не менее грязным, сопливым сыночком Джорджем. И она-то с немытой шеей выходит замуж за «лесного магната» в Сиэтле! Гарри платонически любит нашу красавицу Роксану, а она в свои 36 лет думает о том, чтобы стать сиделкой или хозяйкой пансиона. В общем, весь этот нереалистичный набор несостыковок и нелепиц обескураживает.
May 19, 2017
This story kept me in its throes and made me cry. It made me feel the unfairness of everyday life in all its plaintive notes. It's not like Fitzgerald's usual stories and its characters were not Fitzgerald's usual characters. There were no dancing flappers with wine-colored lips and voices full of money; no sad, noble, hard-drinking rich boys who believed in the green light. This story was about ordinary people, living ordinary lives, suffering the anguish of the sheer ordinariness of everything; laughing, crying and dying in their own little worlds, pursuing their own happiness, leaving no footprints behind and not bothering to either. And it was beautiful. It was real and wistful, like a lily crushed to release a fragrance like no other. The title itself is such a sheer genius in his part. 'Lees', after consulting a dictionary, I found meant, 'dregs' or 'sediments' and after completing the book I was amazed at how perfect the title is. The story really is about true happiness held for a brief space of time, before being snatched away by life and its cruel sense of humour, leaving only its dregs behind.
I think this is the story where Fitzgerald's emotional side and, perhaps, admiration for love and nurture in their truest forms are shown.
I think this is the story where Fitzgerald's emotional side and, perhaps, admiration for love and nurture in their truest forms are shown.
August 18, 2014
"To these two ,life had come quickly and gone, leaving not bitterness, but pity, not disillusion, but only pain. There was already enough moonlight when they shook hands for each to see the gathered kindness in the other's eyes"
April 11, 2022
3,5☆
Започнах я по препоръка и изобщо не съжалявам. Това е първият ми досег до писането на Ф. Скот Фицджералд и определено ми допадна. Също така обогатих опита си с кратките разкази, имайки предвид, че обикновено не чета в този жанр. Вече все по-често ще се обръщам към подобни сборници.
Започнах я по препоръка и изобщо не съжалявам. Това е първият ми досег до писането на Ф. Скот Фицджералд и определено ми допадна. Също така обогатих опита си с кратките разкази, имайки предвид, че обикновено не чета в този жанр. Вече все по-често ще се обръщам към подобни сборници.
December 25, 2012
Франсис Скот Фицджералд е блестящ разказвач и неговите произведения, в този конкретен сборник, разказват за красивите илюзии и големите разочарования, за това как всяка мечта може да завърши като трагедия, но и как от всяка трагедия може да се роди нова мечта. Като всеки сборник и тук може би не всички разкази заслужават максимална оценка, но тънкият хумор, скритият психологизъм и лиричната нотка ми допаднаха като цяло.
December 30, 2024
interesting and sad but what was going on. 3 stars 🌟
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 12, 2016
I am not into romantic novels or love stories. But this one was one of a kind! The main characters exist not in our everyday lives but once in a while you listen to the news about that couple holding hands till death or the ones that were married for 70 years and in love. This is it! a strange for my taste unconditional love. Maybe this one will make you rethink what love or passion or romantism . Certainly it will leave you with bittersweet feelings about Roxanne. And what her future holds for her.
February 4, 2022
I really enjoyed the character building of this story.
January 22, 2026
Life had come quickly, and gone.
February 27, 2016
According to The Canary Express this short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, first published in 1922, is one of the best examples of Fitzgerald's often focus on the sense of disaster, or in this case the "sediment" of disaster after the happiness is ended when the husband in this happy marriage is stricken with a disease rendering him relatively lifeless and ending the happy marriage, despite his wife's continued devotion.
Perhaps this is too close to home for me to truly appreciate, but it is a memorable story, especially contrasted with the unhappy marriage of their friends which ends in divorce. One of the more powerful stories by Fitzgerald I have read recently.
I listened to this on a podcast through loyalbooks.com. Being in the public domain it can also be read online at readbooksonline.net.
Perhaps this is too close to home for me to truly appreciate, but it is a memorable story, especially contrasted with the unhappy marriage of their friends which ends in divorce. One of the more powerful stories by Fitzgerald I have read recently.
I listened to this on a podcast through loyalbooks.com. Being in the public domain it can also be read online at readbooksonline.net.
April 20, 2016
"Τα απομεινάρια της ευτυχίας" : ένα ευκολοδιάβαστο αφήγημα που, ομως, κατάφερε να με αιχμαλωτίσει για ώρες μετά την ολοκλήρωση της ανάγνωσης του.
Τι απέγινε η Ρωξανη, αυτή η όμορφη γυναίκα από την οποία η ζωή στέρησε τη χαρά τόσο νωρις; Προσπάθησα να σκεφτώ αν παντρεύτηκε τον φίλο του αντρα της, αν μετέτρεψε το σπίτι της σε ξενώνα...Μήπως εκεί ανάμεσα στους ενοικιαστές γνώρισε πάλι τον Ερωτα και απέκτησε ίσως και ένα παιδί; Ή έμεινε τελικά μόνη, σε ένα σπίτι γεμάτο αναμνήσεις με το πέπλο της αυτοθυσιας της να καλύπτει τα πάντα, ως το τέλος.
Ένα υπέροχο μικρό αφήγημα, που με μετέφερε στην Αμερική κάπου πριν τον Β Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο, έξω από το Σικαγο. Ένας συγγραφέας και μία όμορφη επιτυχημένη θεατρίνα. Ο Έρωτας και η τραγωδία που σημαδεύει τη ζωή και διαλύει τα πάντα. Αλλά και η βαθιά καλοσύνη, η συντροφικότητα, η εκπλήρωση του Χρέους.
Επίσης: https://www.instagram.com/p/BETpSp1Lbek/
(από το προφίλ μου με το φιλολογικό μου ψευδώνυμο, Ηλέκτρα Αλεξάκη).
Τι απέγινε η Ρωξανη, αυτή η όμορφη γυναίκα από την οποία η ζωή στέρησε τη χαρά τόσο νωρις; Προσπάθησα να σκεφτώ αν παντρεύτηκε τον φίλο του αντρα της, αν μετέτρεψε το σπίτι της σε ξενώνα...Μήπως εκεί ανάμεσα στους ενοικιαστές γνώρισε πάλι τον Ερωτα και απέκτησε ίσως και ένα παιδί; Ή έμεινε τελικά μόνη, σε ένα σπίτι γεμάτο αναμνήσεις με το πέπλο της αυτοθυσιας της να καλύπτει τα πάντα, ως το τέλος.
Ένα υπέροχο μικρό αφήγημα, που με μετέφερε στην Αμερική κάπου πριν τον Β Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο, έξω από το Σικαγο. Ένας συγγραφέας και μία όμορφη επιτυχημένη θεατρίνα. Ο Έρωτας και η τραγωδία που σημαδεύει τη ζωή και διαλύει τα πάντα. Αλλά και η βαθιά καλοσύνη, η συντροφικότητα, η εκπλήρωση του Χρέους.
Επίσης: https://www.instagram.com/p/BETpSp1Lbek/
(από το προφίλ μου με το φιλολογικό μου ψευδώνυμο, Ηλέκτρα Αλεξάκη).
November 8, 2022
To these two life had come quickly and gone, leaving not bitterness, but pity; not disillusion, but only pain. There was already enough moonlight when they shook hands for each to see the gathered kindness in the other's eyes.
Yes, the story was rather sad but in this powerful way that makes you feel, that makes you remember that life is beautiful in its complexity/diversity and on the other hand in its simplicity/similarity.
You can find it on LibriVox and Wikisource.
June 8, 2017
This was a different kind of sad than I expect from Fitzgerald. Still, there's something hopeful in it, I found. maybe hopeful isn't the right word, but I don't have the right word at the moment, so it's what I'll use.
This didn't end how one would think, but the ending isn't wrong. It feels more honest than how I thought it would end, and I like that he went for the least happy ending.
I've got a lot of jumbled thoughts on this short story, and maybe I'll re-read it down the road and update this review to make more sense.
Here's what I can say without any confusion- read this.
This didn't end how one would think, but the ending isn't wrong. It feels more honest than how I thought it would end, and I like that he went for the least happy ending.
I've got a lot of jumbled thoughts on this short story, and maybe I'll re-read it down the road and update this review to make more sense.
Here's what I can say without any confusion- read this.
March 15, 2017
Sad, but not heart breaking. A look at how life can seem wonderful one minute, turn quickly and you are done in, but choose to soldier on.
July 25, 2025
One of the saddest short stories I've ever read. Kind of beautiful in its own way. Fitzgerald knows how to be an affecting writer.
May 31, 2025
F. Scott Fitzgerald has a way of distilling the vastness of human emotion into just a few pages — and The Lees of Happiness is no exception. This short story is a meditation on joy, love, time, and the unexpected detours that life presents, all expressed through his beautifully controlled, lyrical writing.
Synopsis (no spoilers):
The story opens with newlyweds Jeff and Roxanne Tarleton, basking in the glow of their young marriage and dreams for the future. Jeff, a writer, and Roxanne, a bright and affectionate woman, have moved into a new neighborhood, filled with the promise of creative and domestic bliss. They are observed by a neighbour, Harry, who gradually becomes a more prominent figure in their lives. The narrative then shifts focus to how time, fate, and quiet tragedy reshape their expectations, leaving readers to ponder the true meaning of "happiness" and how fleeting it can be.
What’s most striking is the tone — the story begins with an almost fairy-tale lightness before slipping, almost imperceptibly, into deeper waters. There’s a subtle sadness underneath Fitzgerald’s elegant prose that makes the story resonate well beyond its short length. As Fitzgerald writes,
“They seemed to be permanently happy.”
That line hits differently once you’ve read the entire piece — a subtle foreshadowing that the surface isn’t always what it seems.
While it’s not a fast-paced narrative, it’s rich with quiet depth. The lack of dramatic incident might not appeal to every reader, but for me, the emotional precision and thematic exploration made it a rewarding experience. There’s no excess here — every sentence is weighed, measured, and filled with quiet meaning.
This story reminded me of why I love classics — not because of their grand plots, but because of how they help us see the small, often unnoticed truths of life. F. Scott Fitzgerald has firmly claimed the spot as my new favourite classics author. The Lees of Happiness was a gentle, reflective read — one that lingers like a sigh and stays in your thoughts long after the final line.
Synopsis (no spoilers):
The story opens with newlyweds Jeff and Roxanne Tarleton, basking in the glow of their young marriage and dreams for the future. Jeff, a writer, and Roxanne, a bright and affectionate woman, have moved into a new neighborhood, filled with the promise of creative and domestic bliss. They are observed by a neighbour, Harry, who gradually becomes a more prominent figure in their lives. The narrative then shifts focus to how time, fate, and quiet tragedy reshape their expectations, leaving readers to ponder the true meaning of "happiness" and how fleeting it can be.
What’s most striking is the tone — the story begins with an almost fairy-tale lightness before slipping, almost imperceptibly, into deeper waters. There’s a subtle sadness underneath Fitzgerald’s elegant prose that makes the story resonate well beyond its short length. As Fitzgerald writes,
“They seemed to be permanently happy.”
That line hits differently once you’ve read the entire piece — a subtle foreshadowing that the surface isn’t always what it seems.
While it’s not a fast-paced narrative, it’s rich with quiet depth. The lack of dramatic incident might not appeal to every reader, but for me, the emotional precision and thematic exploration made it a rewarding experience. There’s no excess here — every sentence is weighed, measured, and filled with quiet meaning.
This story reminded me of why I love classics — not because of their grand plots, but because of how they help us see the small, often unnoticed truths of life. F. Scott Fitzgerald has firmly claimed the spot as my new favourite classics author. The Lees of Happiness was a gentle, reflective read — one that lingers like a sigh and stays in your thoughts long after the final line.
May 29, 2025
A young, beautiful, typical girl marries a typical newspaper-quality writer, and they move to a small town which gained a community only recently. They buy a big house there, they dream of making it their family home, having children, and living a happy married life all together. The man's friend, a businessman, visits them—he is also happy, his wife just gave birth to their little boy. The girl meets the friend, and they become friends.
After a while, in a series of tragic events, their moments of bliss shatter. Their ecstasy for life turns into misery. The friend now has no bride and no pride, while the girl nurses a breathing corpse—her husband. Over a decade passes by—a decade lost. The friend pays the now-widow a visit, as he often did. They both still have time. What could have been flashes in their heads. They see their eyes through the other’s. They are in love—
and that’s what keeps them distant
[READ IN ENGLISH: ORIGINAL]
After a while, in a series of tragic events, their moments of bliss shatter. Their ecstasy for life turns into misery. The friend now has no bride and no pride, while the girl nurses a breathing corpse—her husband. Over a decade passes by—a decade lost. The friend pays the now-widow a visit, as he often did. They both still have time. What could have been flashes in their heads. They see their eyes through the other’s. They are in love—
and that’s what keeps them distant
[READ IN ENGLISH: ORIGINAL]
April 3, 2019
Another story in which Fitzgerald really gives the impression that he was terrified of old age. This one is a sad but also beautiful story about a wife who cares for her sick paralytic husband after he suffers a terrible stroke early in their married life.
October 17, 2020
Реших да се върна отново към Фицджерълд след доста години. И той ми въздейства пак така завладяващо, както преди 15 години. Това са едни от най-красиво и точно подредените думи, които съм чела наскоро, и са така завладяващи, картинни, на моменти разтърсващи.
June 4, 2023
Didn’t expect to have my heart ripped violently out of me from this story after reading quite a few of Fitzgerald’s short stories which weren’t heartbreaking like this one was. Five stars, I’m gonna go cry now. Roxanne’s character deserves the world
December 23, 2022
A beautifully written book and emotional love story
April 20, 2023
C’était cool hein mais comment j’en peux plus de l’image de la femme qui sait rien faire à part s’occuper de son mari 💀 Heureusement qu’il y avait un peu de tristesse pour pimenter le tout…
April 23, 2023
A wonderful, simple and clear short story on love that doesn't go according to the plan, yet goes exactly as it should, proving the existence of unconditional love. Very short, but made me cry.
May 15, 2023
A sad short story about life being beautiful and lovely and so quickly becoming sad and lonely. Cherish your loved ones, you can never know what may happen to them.
September 7, 2023
the cookie part was so genius i chuckled
November 1, 2023
Quite depressing!
November 9, 2023
A sad and wonderful F. Scott Fitzgerald story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews