Zelda Fitzgerald: Her Voice in Paradise - Softcover

Cline writes well, and even when she recounts well known incidents, she imbues her scences with revekatory detail. Her book is meticulously researched... a fine study in its own right illuminating the brief, tortured life of one of the twentieth century's most fascinating women. -- Santa Journal Constitution USA A solid balance of perspective that dissects American mythology about the celebrated Fitzgeralds of the Jazz Age, offering glimpses of the two that are far from one-dimensional. -- St Petersburg Times, Lorraine Lykins 'The thoroughness of research makes this book as close to definitive as we'll ever get' -- Sunday Telegraph 'Scrupulously researched...riveting reportage' -- Literary Review 'Cline's clear-headed and careful study should make clear that [the Fitzgeralds'] relationship can no longer be regarded as a great love story![and]! demonstrates the terrible danger of such romantic fairytales' -- Elaine Showalter, The Guardian 'This latest haunting rendition of her life reminds us why her story continues to captivate' -- Washington Post 'A thorough biography, a strong case for why the unfortunate Zelda Fitzgerald should be remembered as an artist foremost, not merely as a victim of mental illness' -- Kirkus Reviews 'Cline's account is lush and readable, with some telling new material' -- Nina Auerbach, London Review of Books 'Her biography is enjoyable and even gripping' -- Sunday Telegraph 'Impressively researched and imaginatively written' -- Sunday Times 'Sally Cline's book is an excellent one' -- Literary Review, Kathryn Hughes

Legend views Zelda Fitzgerald as the mythical American Dream Girl of the 1920s, later as the Southern Belle whose brilliant husband Scott remained loyal despite her frequent breakdowns and final madness. The Zelda that Sally Cline reveals was a serious artist: a painter of extraordinary and disturbing vision, a talented dancer and a witty and original writer whose work Scott often used in his own novels but never acknowledged. Hitherto untapped sources, including medical evidence and interviews with Zelda's last psychiatrist, suggest that her insanity may have been less a specific clinical condition than the product of her treatment for schizophrenia and her husband's behaviour towards her. Cline shows how Scott's alcoholism, too, was as destructive of Zelda and their marriage as it was of him. Zelda's vivid and tragic life was lived at the height of the Jazz Age. Her circle included Edmund Wilson, John Dos Passos, Ernest Hemingway, Dorothy Parker and Lillian Hellman. Sally Cline evokes that gilttering group and also, perhaps more significantly, the Deep South from which Zelda longed to escape but from which she could never free herself.