Beautiful Little Fools

In 1925 F Scott Fizgerald published his novel, The Great Gatsby. In 2021 Jillian Cantor published her novel, Beautiful Little Fools, which is a retelling of The Great Gatsby from the perspective of the female characters Daisy, Jordan and Catherine.

In 1917 Daisy Fay first met a soldier, Jay Gatsby, and an attraction was immediately formed. Then Jay went to war and at home Daisy's life changed dramatically when her father and sister, Rose, died in a train accident. When she met the wealthy Tom Buchanan Daisy agreed to marry him and after a while their daughter, Pammy, was born. Daisy now lived in palatial houses in America and France and had all the money she required, however she soon learned that her husband, though sometimes loving, was not faithful to her.

Jordan lived near Daisy and they became good friends and confidants. Jordan loved playing golf at a time when it was difficult for women to be accepted on the golf course but she was determined that that should change. Jordan's life changed when it was discovered that she was in a relationship with one of the other players. 

Catherine was a suffragist and was involved with organisations working for the rights of women as well as the right of women to be able to vote. Catherine's sister, Myrtle, was unhappily married to George Wilson who was known to physically abuse her. Catherine had been in a relationship with Jay Gatsby and asked him to help her sister become independant from George. The result was that Myrtle ended up in a relationship with Daisy's husband, Tom.

Most of the action in the story takes place in 1922 when Jay Gatsby discovers where Daisy lives and purchases a property across the water from her. He is now rich and is known for the extravagant parties he holds in the evenings. He is determined to once again be involved with Daisy, but she is not interested in his advances. Gatsby trys to enlists Jordan to assist with his plans threatening to expose her secret if she doesn't. Catherine is also furious that Jay set up a situation where her sister became involved with Tom Buchanan.

Then in August 1922, Jay Gatsby was shot by his swimming pool. It was assumed that Myrtle's husband had killed Gatsby and then committed suicide - case closed. However a detective, Frank Charles, is not convinced when he discovers a diamond hairclip in the woods near where the muder took place. He has three suspects who he believes are covering for each other - Daisy, Jordan and catherine. Can he find the truth?

The means of escape

This collection of short stories was published after the death of the author, Penelope Fitzgerald, in 2000. Penelope Fitzgerald was renowned for writing short, concise, novels. Once again this is a short book containing eight short stories. The stories are set in a variety of countries including, Australia, New Zealand, France and Greece as well as Britain and in different time periods. The stories, dealing with human foibles, uncertainties and missed opportunities, are told with a quiet humour in the observation of the characters and their actions. Reading the stories, I found, however, was not always straightforward and I had to read several of the stories twice, to see what I had missed when reading them the first time, in order to fully appreciate what had happened and why. Like much of the writing of Penelope Fitzgerald the stories /  characters tend to remain with the reader after finishing the book as the author challenges the reader to think about the actions of the characters.

Reviews:
Small but perfectly formed - Observer 29 October 2000

Rough-hewn lives - New York Times 26 November 2000

At Freddie's

The Temple Stage School in the 1960s supplied many of the West End theatres with child actors. The school is known as Freddie's, named after the woman who ran the school - Miss Freida Wentworth. This short novel by Penelope Fitzgerald is about the management / mismanagement of the school, about the lives of the two teachers who join the staff, about Freddie and her attempts to manipulate her contacts to keep the school afloat in a changing and challenging environment and particularly about a small selection of the children attending the school - especially Mattie and Jonathan. The book is largely about the end of an era and what can be salvaged. The many story lines are intertwined and following what is going on is not always easy, though the night after I finished reading the book I found that I was still thinking about parts of the book, particularly an outcome for Jonathan.

The Bookshop

A friend recommended books written by Penelope Fitzgerald who started her writing career in 1960. The Bookshop was first published in 1978 and was her second novel. The author's experience of having worked in a bookshop in Southwold provides the background for this book.

It was 1959 and Florence Green had lived in Hardborough on the East Anglia coast for almost ten years when she decided to open a bookshop in The Old House, a building that had been vacant for many years. It was then that Florence encountered opposition from a section of the established community - initially from the bank manager, then from Mrs Violet Gamut, a power broker in the town, who decided that The Old House should be used as a cultural centre and finally by neighbouring premises when the bookshop had partial success. However Florence did have some supporters including Mr Brundish and also eleven year old Christine who helped out in the shop. This short novel explores the challenges faced by Florence in establishing her new venture, including dealing with a poltergeist who occasionally makes his presence felt in the old building, and how she deals with them. The story is told with humour and understanding of living in a small, isolated community. A series of correspondence between Florence and a lawyer, when Violet Gamut attempts to close the business, demonstrates Florence's understanding of the situation and her place in the community.

Penelope Fitzgerald uses words economically in portraying the characters in this community, the situation in the village when the new venture is undertaken by Florence and the injustice that can occur when people try to introduce something different into an established community. Although this is a character driven book the setting of the seaside village also plays a prominent part in the unfolding of the story. In only 100 plus pages the author involves the reader in the affairs of this small community and the struggles of Florence to live life as she wishes. Parallels can also be drawn between the opposition to change in a small town, as portrayed in the novel, with opposition to change that can occur in many community groups.

The plot of this book was  turned into a film in 2018.

The Bookshop review - (The Guardian 29 June 2018)

Penelope Fitzgerald's divided village loses some bite in The Bookshop - (SMH 21 May 2018)

Careless people

Having seen the film, which I enjoyed, a few months again I have recently reread The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald.

I was therefore interested to find in the library this new analysis of the book written by Sarah Churchwell. Subtitled: murder, mayhem and invention of the Great Gatsby, Careless people looks at events, including crimes, that occurred in New York, particularly in 1922 when the novel is set but also in 1923 and 1924, which possibly served as background for events in F Scott Fitzgerald's famous novel published in 1925. In the latter part of 1922 the Fitzgeralds lived in Great Neck (West Egg in the novel). The period after the First World War for many of the affluent in New York was a time for parties and living for the sake of living. It was also a time of transition with the return of servicemen after the war. Prohibition in the United States was in force though there was not a shortage of alcohol for those who knew where to obtain it. Life was not easy for everyone, however, and Churchwell describes the poorer areas, especially around the Ash Heaps. Churchwell provides a long list of notes with references to many newspaper and magazine articles providing additional information as well as an extensive bibliography.