Reading Guide Questions

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. Why do you think Zelda refused to marry Scott until he'd made a name for himself? Was she manipulating him?
   


2. Zelda didn't seem to care how her parents felt about her unstable relationship with Scott and how it might ruin her reputation. Did they have a valid point, considering the time period?
   


3. What do you think was behind Scott's alcoholism? Was it due to his rocky relationship with Zelda or did he drink to fit in with the crowd?
   


4. How do you feel about Scott selling Zelda's short stories under both their names? Why wouldn't he let Zelda publish under her own name?
   


5. Which of Zelda's talents were her strongest? Which would you most like to possess?
   


6. Why did Scott insist on hiring strict nannies to care for Scottie? What did this say about the kind of father he was?
   


7. Considering the time period, do you think Zelda's mental condition was handled as well as it could have been? How might it be handled differently today?
   


8. What did Scott's treatment of Zelda, while she was in the hospital, show you about his character? Did it make him any more sympathetic to you?
   


9. Why does Zelda seem to let Scott have affairs without trying to stop him? What would you have done in her place?
   


10. Zelda believed Ernest Hemingway was the reason she and Scott made a mess of their lives. Why do you think she thought this? Was she correct?
    


11. Why did Hemingway write so spitefully about Zelda and Scott after their deaths? Did this surprise you?
    


12. Why do you think Scott cared so much about his reputation as a serious writer? Do you consider him an important American writer?
    


13. What impact did Zelda's relationship with her friends have on her? Do you believe her friends were good influences?
    


14. How might the Fitzgeralds' public and private lives been different if they'd lived today? Would the media care as much about them?
    


15. Scott turns Zelda's affair with Jozan into a work of fiction. What did this make you think about him? How would you have reacted if you were Zelda?
    

Created by BookBrowse, 2013

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of St. Martin's Griffin. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.