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Call Me Zelda by Erika Robuck
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Call Me Zelda (original 2013; edition 2013)

by Erika Robuck (Author)

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2901789,969 (3.52)9
"From New York to Paris, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald reigned as king and queen of the Jazz Age, seeming to float on champagne bubbles above the mundane cares of the world. But to those who truly knew them, the endless parties were only a distraction from their inner turmoil, and from a love that united them with a scorching intensity. When Zelda is committed to a Baltimore psychiatric clinic in 1932, vacillating between lucidity and madness in her struggle to forge an identity separate from her husband, the famous writer, she finds a sympathetic friend in her nurse, Anna Howard. Held captive by her own tragic past, Anna is increasingly drawn into the Fitzgeralds tumultuous relationship. As she becomes privy to Zelda's most intimate confessions, written in a secret memoir meant only for her, Anna begins to wonder which Fitzgerald is the true genius. But in taking ever greater emotional risks to save Zelda, Anna may end up paying a far higher price than she intended"--P. [4] of cover.… (more)
Member:MHanover10
Title:Call Me Zelda
Authors:Erika Robuck (Author)
Info:NAL (2013), 352 pages
Collections:Your library, Currently reading, Wishlist, To read, Read but unowned, Favorites
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Tags:to-read

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Call Me Zelda by Erika Robuck (2013)

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The author uses the nurse of Zelda when she was first institutionalized for a diagnosis of schizophrenia to tell the story of Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.

Theirs was a torrid, incredibly destructive relationship. The love was real and solid, as was the tearing apart and incredle dysfunction that resulted from two people who did the best they could when it simply wasn't enough.

Zelda's nurse in the institution becomes fascinated by this incredibly lovely, sometimes caring, always insightful woman. She watches as Scott's alcoholism takes over, making him a bitter and sad figure, who is equally brilliant and equally selfish.

A incredibly destructive relationship, their push and pull, love and hate, give and take, hug and push away antics were annihilating beyond words. Each knew the tender vulnerabilities of the other and relished stabbing and emotionally destroying each other.

They could show intense love and tenderness in equal measure with the exceeding anger and angst.

All this plays out while their daughter Scottie looks on while trying to find a safe space for emotionally protect herself.

Excellently written, this is an amazing story set in the jazz age when Zelda was the ultimate flapper girl, intensely beautiful with a cutting, conoving nature who pulled men into her circle to relish the admiration and desire. Scott was one such man who fell under her spell. Unlike the others, he could not escape.

Part of the "lost generation." They truly lived up to the term coined by Gertrude Stein. They were part of a group of post-WWI American writers living in France and England who were highly disorganized, with no set direction, and included F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein and T.S. Elliot.

Though stellar, long-lasting American literature lived on long after their demise, Fitzgerald drank himself to oblivion, Hemingway found relief from his emotional demons at the end of a gun. Tragically, Zelda died in 1948 in Asheville, NC because of a fire while staying at an institution there. ( )
  Whisper1 | Feb 16, 2019 |
Those who know me, know how much I love F. Scott Fitzgerald (I am planning on his work is the topic of my graduate thesis) and how my love of Fitzgerald has brought me to love Zelda. I was nervous to read another fictional novel about her life but this one made me more nervous than most.

Robuck decided to focus on Zelda during the later part of her life when things started to fall apart for the Fitzgeralds and mental illness took its toll on Zelda. Anna, a nurse at one of the many hospitals Zelda stays in becomes friends with Zelda, the friendship almost becomes an obsession at one point.

Just like with other novels that feature a person from history as a secondary character the story is more about Anna than Zelda. It's about how Zelda helps Anna move past the trauma in her life and become more excepting of what has happened.

The is romance, laughter, and lots of heart-clenching moments but Robuck does an amazing job of bringing the Fitzgeralds to life. The picture she paints of Zelda makes it seem as if Robuck actually knew Zelda and she did a wonderful job pasting together the Scott Fitzgerald we now know he truly was.

The book makes you reevaluate what you know about the famous author and also makes you want to go reread his novels, particularly Tender is the Night and also find a copy of Zelda's Save Me the Waltz. Robuck showed how much she loves Zelda throughout the novel and handles her death with so much care. The growth of both Zelda and Anna is wonderful and I was so happy to read a female friendship where both women help each other, instead of tearing each other apart.

I highly recommend if you love historical fiction or want a glimpse into the life of a famous author and the first acclaimed flapper. Now I can't wait to read Hemingway's Girl and be suck into the amazing world Robuck creates! ( )
  IntrovertedBooks | Mar 26, 2018 |
More Zelda less Anna. An okay book. Realizing that the golden years were more interesting than the crazy years it took a lot of imagination to flesh this book out. Some unique aspects were not investigated. Such as Hemingways total dislike of Zelda. Scott's alcoholism played a major role setting the stage. I only wish things could have been different for Zelda. Modern medicine perhaps could have saved her from herself, her genius, her fate. ( )
  Alphawoman | Feb 2, 2018 |
This novel opens with Zelda Fitzgerald's admittance into an asylum and is narrated by the nurse, Anna, who she becomes attached to. The later portion of Zelda's life is primarily featured, which left me curious about the earlier years of her life. Overall, a good read and definitely recommended for those who enjoy Jazz Age historical fiction. ( )
  wagner.sarah35 | May 5, 2017 |
Even if you're not a Fitzgerald fan, you can easily follow this story. And if you are a fan, so much the better as you will recognize elements of Scott's books as you read. It's a fictional piece but it brings to light quite well the complex relationship of Scott and Zelda. (If you're not familiar with the Fitzgeralds and wondering if certain events really happened, there is Q&A with Robuck at the end.) The narrator, an imagined nurse who becomes Zelda's private nurse and friend, is a marvelous character herself. I laughed, I thought, and I had two good cries reading it. One of the best new books I've read in years. Reminded me a little of Plath's BELL JAR. ( )
  DonnaMarieMerritt | Jul 17, 2016 |
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For my Scott
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The ward was never the same after the February afternoon when Zelda Fitzgerald stumbled into the psychiatric clinic with a stack of papers clutched to her chest, eyes darting this way and that, at once pushing from and pulling toward her husband like a spinning magnet.
Quotations
Her emotions were like a jewel whose facets caught the light in succession.
The flickering light of a dying bulb inside the apartment of the Romanian violinist tapped its Morse code on the sidewalk outside of my building.
He started singing along with the music in my ear as he led me all around the dance floor. I let him, intoxicated, vaguely aware of the stir we created. Sulking men, green women. His voice in my ear.
Nurses rushed about clearing areas, making space where the sterile white would soon be red and brown and all shades of pain and suffering.
My patient gave a gurgling, guttural cry, and I sent him to surgery with a look of reassurance I did not feel and a prayer, and wondered whether prayers were triaged.
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"From New York to Paris, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald reigned as king and queen of the Jazz Age, seeming to float on champagne bubbles above the mundane cares of the world. But to those who truly knew them, the endless parties were only a distraction from their inner turmoil, and from a love that united them with a scorching intensity. When Zelda is committed to a Baltimore psychiatric clinic in 1932, vacillating between lucidity and madness in her struggle to forge an identity separate from her husband, the famous writer, she finds a sympathetic friend in her nurse, Anna Howard. Held captive by her own tragic past, Anna is increasingly drawn into the Fitzgeralds tumultuous relationship. As she becomes privy to Zelda's most intimate confessions, written in a secret memoir meant only for her, Anna begins to wonder which Fitzgerald is the true genius. But in taking ever greater emotional risks to save Zelda, Anna may end up paying a far higher price than she intended"--P. [4] of cover.

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