The romance between F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre has been
celebrated as one of the greatest of the 20th century. From the
beginning, their relationship was a tumultuous one, in which the
couple's excesses were as widely known as their passion for each other.
Despite their love, both Scott and Zelda engaged in flirtations that
threatened to tear the couple apart. But none had a more profound impact
on the two--and on Scott's writing--as the liaison between Zelda and a
French aviator, Edouard Jozan. Though other biographies have written of
Jozan as one of Scott's romantic rivals, accounts of the pilot's effect
on the couple have been superficial at best. In The Gatsby Affair:
Scott, Zelda, and the Betrayal That Shaped an American Classic, Kendall
Taylor examines the dalliance between the southern belle and the French
pilot from a fresh perspective. Drawing on conversations and
correspondence with Jozan's daughter, as well as materials from the
Jozan family archives, Taylor sheds new light on this romantic triangle.
More than just a casual fling, Zelda's tryst with Edouard affected Scott
as much as it did his wife--and ultimately influenced the author's most
famous creation, Jay Gatsby. Were it not for Zelda's affair with the
pilot, Scott's novel might be less about betrayal and more about lost
illusions. Exploring the private motives of these public figures, Taylor
offers new explanations for their behavior. In addition to the love
triangle that included Jozan, Taylor also delves into an earlier event
in Zelda's life--a sexual assault she suffered as a teenager--one that
affected her future relationships. Both a literary study and a probing
look at an iconic couple's psychological makeup, The Gatsby Affair
offers readers a bold interpretation of how one of America's greatest
novels was influenced.
