I really really loved this book!! I love the original story and this had a lot of interesting insights! I love memoirs and bios so I am in love with this book! I will be purchasing this book as well for my students in my library!

The Gatsby Affair is a fascinating story. I'm always intrigued by anything about Fitzgerald and Zelda. This is a well written and researched account of their marriage and problems they had. Zelda deserved better. I've always seen her as a sympathetic character. Fitzgerald is just not likable. Overall a good read. Great for anyone interested in the subject matter or time period. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Reading this well researched, captivating book can be likened to a slow drive past a horrific traffic accident; once you've noticed it, you can't stop looking.
F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre are the ultimate Golden Jazz Age power couple, with charisma, wit and drama propelling them into the spotlight. Scott's writing and Zelda's talent for pushing the envelope helped them acquire a lifestyle that was glamorous beyond their initial expectations. They took to the lifestyle easily, and Scott needed to finance the trappings and travel. In the summer of 1924, along the French Riviera, Scott wrote while Zelda looked to amuse herself. Not one to be lonely when other options abounded, Zelda became friendly with Edouard Jozan, a dashing French aviator. Little is known as to the exact nature and depth of the relationship, and the boundaries it pushed, but the author Kendall Taylor, surmises that infidelity occurred. Zelda may even have proclaimed it herself, whether to create drama and jealously, or to come clean and repent.
This summer romance so early on in the marriage marked the relationship of Scott and Zelda for the rest of their lives. Scott's writing seems to obsess with the theme of betrayal, and several of his characters post 1924 are modelled after Jozan.
However, in the grand scheme of the marriage, Zelda's illness, and Scott's theft of her creativity are just as damning if not more so that the summer affair. Zelda's high strung nature devolves into full blown mental illness, fueled in part by her need to feel accomplished in the shadow of Scott's success. Instead of fostering or supporting her desires, Scott steals her journals, co-opts her writings, and refuses to allow her to publish anything relating to their marriage because he views it as his material to develop, not hers.
Particularly revealing and gruesome is the mental health treatments of the day. Being wealthy, well known and beautiful did not grant any better access to healthcare, in fact the brutality of Zelda's inpatient treatment is appalling, but common for the era.
Kendall Taylor's research is impeccable and discerning. Her ability to write nonfiction that reads like a juicy story makes this book a hypnotic dive into a marriage and era that ultimately reveals the tarnish behind the Golden Jazz Age.

For the love of Gatsby! This book was FANTASTIC! I enjoyed every page of it and wouod read it again in a heartbeat. I love seeing this love story from a new angle.

I enjoyed reading this book. It had some interesting info at this time in history. It is my first book read by this author. I hope to read more books by this author.

"The Great Gatsby" is one of my favorite books and I was so thrilled to learn about this title. It was a really shocking eye opener into the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda.

Interesting book, thanks for the review copy. Looking forward to reading more like this one. Thanks again.

I have problems with this book. 1. The author starts out in her introduction by telling the readers that her previous book was the best book ever written about the Fitzgeralds ever in the history of ever. 2. Then she pretty much tells the reader everything that happens in just a few pages. 3. She uses a time line that tells us everything we need to know. 4. The first line of the book uses "sultry" to describe a night.

I wanted to read this because I thought this was going to be a real life companion to the historical fiction version Z. I am sorry. I want my non-fiction to be non-fiction. I am not suggesting that there is anything wrong with the facts here, but there is a lot of graphic descriptions of things that simply can't be known.

Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC. I had hope. It is jut not for me. I am sure there are plenty of folks who like their non-fiction to read like a lurid novel. I am not that person.

On the Fitzgerald fan scale I'm probably in the middle. I loved The Great Gatsby, enjoyed Tender Is the Night and have been wanting to learn more about Zelda after Amazon's Z: The beginning of everything. So this book seemed right up my street.

I'll get my moan out of the way first - the title is a bit misleading. This book isn't a study of an affair and its impact on a novel. I don't think it is a spoiler to say that details of the affair itself are not fleshed out, because they are not really known beyond the people involved. My gossip-hungry side was disappointed by that, and I couldn't decide if I respected Jozan's dignified and respectful silence or saw it as yet another turn of the knife, that he didn't take what they had shared as seriously as Zelda had. I was also left a bit longing for more discussion around how Fitzgerald's writing was shaped by Zelda's betrayal. The book did go in to this, and it is evident that it wasn't just one of his works which picked the affair apart. But I guess I just wanted more depth in that respect.

But actually, I'm glad that the scope of the book was more than it promised at first. This is a examination of a damaged and damaging relationship, of a couple who hurt one another because they felt hurt by one another. It strips away any pretence of romance or glamour, and shows just how toxic the wrong combination of people can be for all around them. I found it fascinating to learn just how heavily both of them borrowed from their lives in their writing, and the power struggle of two creative but very broken people. In my mind, Fitzgerald was very much the villain of the piece, but Taylor gives the reader space to make their own judgement.

In short, the title lets the book down. There is so much more to this incredibly researched and accessibly written study. But then again, it was the title that hooked me in...and I'm glad that it did!

Many thanks to Rowman and Littlefield for my Netgalley copy of this book. All views my own.

3.5 I've never read a biography of either of the Fitzgeralds. What I know about them comes from various eotkd of fiction, either by or about them, do this provided me with much information I did not know. I knew Scott was an alcoholic, that Zelda was wild, and that she had mental problems, also that they both died very young. So reading that Scott was as wild as Zelda, was partly or maybe more so responsible for Zelda's mental state, and that their marriage was not a great love story. In fact, they were not good for each other, poisonous may be more accurate. Felt so for their poor daughter. Also never knew how much of their life, Zelda's words, Scott put into his fiction.

Coming across the name Bleuler again was another one of those strange book coincidence, I seem to be running into more and more lately. I had never heard of this learned man of psychiatry until I recently encountered his name in the book , Inkspots. All the leading men of the time tried to treat Zelda at one time or another. I came away from this book, with a deep sympathy for Zelda, of course one could tell the author also felt for her. She was so lost, so young, and didn't have anyone to as ctually guide her.

Whenever I read books featuring The greats from the jazz Age, I am always amazed at the prodigious amounts of alcohol they consumed. How they moved from place to place, traveling everywhere, constantly broke. It is amazing that they managed to pen many of the books we now call classics. This book was well put together, interesting yet easy to read, not exactly narrative style, but I never found it dry. A very informative look at this time and the two people who live on in their books.

ARC from Netgalley.

I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I've always been fascinated with F. Scott Fitzgerald. Kendall Taylor does a fantastic job bringing to life the lives of all involved. The book is well researched and goes into great detail.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to those who know very little or think they know all there is about F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda.

Well researched and highly interesting but with a slightly misleading title that caused me to expect a larger portion of the contents to be dedicated to the affair it references.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's books were the stories of those around him, and The Great Gatsby was no different. However, all parties denied an affair during their lifetimes, even though it was highly speculated to have taken place. In The Gatsby Affair; Scott, Zelda, and the Betrayal That Shaped an American Classic, Kendall Taylor affirms that it did actually take place. She was given unprecedented access to personal journals and correspondence of all three; Scott, Zelda, and Edouard Jozan which confirm the affair. The Gatsby Affair touches on the affair, but it is more about how the affair effected Scott, Zelda, and their marriage. Ms. Taylor is very knowledgeable about the entire circle of friends that Scott and Zelda were a part of. She has also researched in depth, the asylums and medical practices that were a part of Zelda's life.

The more I read about Scott Fitzgerald the more unlikable he becomes, and the more inexcusable his behaviour towards Zelda. This latest exploration of their marriage does nothing to redeem him. It’s an intelligent, well-researched and balanced portrayal of his and Zelda’s marriage, and a compassionate portrait of this poor woman who had so much potential but who was so damaged by what life threw at her. A fascinating read indeed.

It's no secret that Zelda Fitzgerald had an affair with a French airman named Edouard Jozan. It's also no secret that F. Scott Fitzgerald used these experiences to influence The Great Gatsby and emotionally abused and plagiarized from his wife. Until recently, however, not much has been told from Zelda's side of the story. Author Kendall Taylor has put together a well-researched exploration of the time period and what happened to breakdown two of the most famous people in the 1920s.

The Gatsby Affair is highly atmospheric and does an incredible job explaining the time period, how Zelda and Scott met, and the context of the affair. What the book does an excellent job of is not making Zelda a victim, but explaining why Scott wasn't exactly the best person. The book doesn't put all the blame on either party, which is an interesting take.  

My warning about this book is for readers who are sensitive to reading about sexual assault. Kendall Taylor does some research into an incident that is believed to have happened to Zelda in her youth. 

The Gatsby Affair is available now from Rowman and Littlefield.

As a fan of Zelda Fitzgerald, I was intrigued by the opportunity to learn more about a very specific point in her life, her affair with a French aviator. I came into this knowing a little about the details about Zelda’s life but not so much about Scott. My favorite part of this book was definitely some of the arguments Taylor put forward about the causes of Zelda’s breakdown. The ideas she put forward were logical to me and it really gave me a new perspective and understanding of this part of Zelda’s history. However, I was expecting there to much more about the affair itself. This book focused much more about the entirety of Scott and Zelda’s relationship with the occasional mention of Edouard and how this affected the Fitzgerald’s marriage long afterwards. There was a ton of new information in this book, some of which was incredibly private and I was surprised to know there was a record of in the first place. Overall, while it wasn’t what I was expecting, I enjoyed the new information and new angles on this story.

A brilliant study of the Fitzgerald marriage, which I've read about many times but which takes on additional psychological depth and reveals new fracture lines here. Well-rounded perspectives of both Scott and Zelda, and a truly detailed, dimensional examination of Zelda's mental illness.

The troubled mysteriously complex marriage of F. Scott Fitzgerald and his beautiful wife Zelda Sayre is one of the most fascinating unions in literary history-- and is recalled in the intriguing biographical book; “The Gatsby Affair: Scott, Zelda and The Betrayal That Shaped an American Classic” by award winning author, scholar and historian Kendall Taylor PhD. Dr. Taylor is also the author of “Sometimes Madness is Wisdom: Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald: A Marriage” (2001). This outstanding notable biography of the Fitzgerald’s was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and translated in multiple languages.

Both F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) and Zelda Sayre (1900-48) were from wealthier privileged family backgrounds. When the couple met in Zelda’s hometown in Montgomery, Alabama—Scott was in the Army stationed at Camp Sheridan after discontinuing his studies at Princeton. There was nothing remarkable about him. Zelda, a popular spirited beauty and southern belle with numerous suitors was obviously waiting for a wealthy and/or famous husband. Scott was determined to win Zelda’s affection’s at any cost.
While his regiment was awaiting deployment to France, Scott’s hope to become a war hero was dashed with the signing of the Armistice. Scott was among the first to be discharged when the war ended. Scott began working on his novel-- with the overnight sensational success of “This Side of Paradise” (1920) Scott and Zelda eloped. As a NYC celebrity power couple, the Fitzgerald’s influenced the Roaring Twenties era socially and culturally through Scott’s writings of “The Jazz Age” calling Zelda (his wife and muse) the “original flapper”. The Fitzgerald’s spectacular public antics were widely covered in the press, their dramatic drunken partying, fights and allegations, outrageous conduct that included Zelda frolicking in a NYC water fountain.
The pivotal turning point in their marriage occurred while Scott was writing The Great Gatsby. While living in a villa on the French Rivera, Scott needed large blocks of time in isolation to write (1924). Zelda amused herself (with Scott’s approval) spending time with the dashing French naval pilot Edouard S. Jozan. Their affair was predictable, as were the dramatic scenes that followed. Jozan wisely extracted himself immediately from the situation to avoid conduct issues that may have impacted his military career, and never spoke to Zelda again. He always declined to acknowledge or speak publically of the affair. Surprisingly, Dr. Taylor heard from Edouard’s daughter Martine, who added additional insight of the affair and her father’s character.

Zelda was a gifted creative writer/artist in her own right. Scott used entries from her dairies verbatim in his writing and novel’s, and rejected serious offers from publisher’s to buy Zelda’s writing. Later, Scott’s tendency to use her private writings and her recognizable life situations for material in his novels would be the source of Zelda’s great emotional distress; impeding her ability to get well. Another negative influence was the experimental treatments with the use of Metrazol or Insulin coma induced Electroconvulsive Therapy used in the 1930’s-1940’s. The side effects from these treatments included headaches, acute anxiety, insomnia and obesity. Zelda had several mental breakdowns that led to confinement in numerous psychiatric hospitals; her final admission to Highland Hills, N.C. led to the tragedy that claimed her life.
* During that time period, the Baltimore Sun reported that in the Maryland mental health system only 12 registered nurses supported the care of over 9,000 patients. In North Carolina, the ratio of nurses to patients was even less.

In his younger years Scott’s friends jokingly called him “Scotch Fitzgerald”. The alcoholism affiliated with the writing careers of famous author’s including Fitzgerald is widely known, although Dr. Taylor doesn’t focus on this aspect of the Fitzgerald marriage. At the time of his death, Scott was in poor health, nearly broke-- barely able to afford Zelda’s medical expenses, they were estranged (Zelda could only contact Scott through his publisher) Scott was allegedly involved with British writer columnist Sheilah Graham. Still, his work featured elements of the marital betrayal he had endured years after Zelda’s affair. This combination that blended reality with thinly disguised fiction promoted the success and timeless appeal of Fitzgerald’s writing as readers learned more about Scott and Zelda’s historical legacy along with the people and places affiliated with them. ** With thanks and appreciation to ROMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHING via NetGalley for the advance DDC for the purpose of review.

I am fairly well versed in Fitzgerald lore. I have read Scott Fitzgerald's books. I have read Zelda's biography and her biographical novel, SAVE ME THE WALTZ. I have read fiction about Scott Fitzgerald's Hollywood years, and I have read both fact and fiction about their sun-soaked days on the French Riviera with the Murphy clan.

But, I was somehow not prepared for the content of THE GATSBY AFFAIR. It is not so much that I encountered new information or was exposed to fresh incidents in their lives---it is more that Kendall Taylor's chronological presentation of their courtship, marriage, and careers left me disillusioned about them at such an early stage in their relationship.

Theirs is a story that does not have a happy ending. And, that is no surprise to anyone who has even a limited interest in their lives. But, the suggestion that Zelda married, not for love, but for opportunity, was a different spin on their relationship for me. Taylor's relentless dedication to the details of Zelda's decline is heartbreaking and difficult to accept. If ever anyone was in need of a health advocate---or, just a friend, it was Zelda Fitzgerald.

Biographers will vary on their interpretation of incidents, but however you choose to view the lives of this couple, it is clear that their reputation as gay, fun-loving and gold-dust spattered sophisticates was only a lot of skillful spin. Zelda was immature and irresponsible and her husband was selfish and destructive. Ms. Taylor may not be breaking new ground with this book, but her research and scholarship very successfully debunked the Fitzgerald myth for me. My heart went out to Zelda for the loss of her youth, beauty and dreams.

F. Scott Fitzgerald's books were the stories of those around him, and The Great Gatsby was no different. However, all parties denied an affair during their lifetimes, even though it was highly speculated to have taken place. In The Gatsby Affair; Scott, Zelda, and the Betrayal That Shaped an American Classic, Kendall Taylor affirms that it did actually take place. She was given unprecedented access to personal journals and correspondence of all three; Scott, Zelda, and Edouard Jozan which confirm the affair. The Gatsby Affair touches on the affair, but it is more about how the affair effected Scott, Zelda, and their marriage. Ms. Taylor is very knowledgeable about the entire circle of friends that Scott and Zelda were a part of. She has also researched in depth, the asylums and medical practices that were a part of Zelda's life. If you want the facts behind The Great Gatsby, this is the only resource you need!