One of the great literary curios of the 20th century, Save Me the Waltz is the first and only novel by the wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald. During the years when her husband was working on Tender is the Night—which many critics consider his masterpiece—Zelda Fitzgerald was preparing her own story. The novel strangely parallels evens from her husband’s life, throwing a fascinating light on Scott Fitzgerald and his work. In its own right, it is a vivid and moving story—centered upon the confessional of a famous glamour girl of the affluent 1920s and an aspiring ballerina—that captures the spirit of an era.
Review
"Save Me the Waltz is worth reading partly because anything that illuminates the career of F. Scott Fitzgerald is worth reading-and because it is the only published novel of a brave and talented woman who is remembered for her defeats" -- Matthew Bruccoli Some Sort of Epic Grandeur: The Life of F. Scott Fitzgerald "Some of her sentences are so bittersweetly delicious I could eat them" -- Jessica Whiteley Stylist
About the Author
Zelda Fitzgerald was born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1900. She became a 'roarer' of the pre-1920s and met F.Scott Fitzgerald at one of the many social dances she attended. They married in 1920 and began a decade of riotous living in France and America. Zelda wrote magazine articles and short stories, and at twenty-seven became obsessed with a career as a dancer. The couple became increasingly eccentric and erratic; Scott became an alcoholic and Zelda developed schizophrenia. In 1932 Zelda became seriously ill and wrote Save me the Waltz in six weeks to the envy of her husband who had been writing Tender is the Night for more than five years. Zelda died in a hospital fire in 1947.
