Tag: The Great Gatsby

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Beautiful Little Fools by Jill Cantor

 

Robin’s Reviews5 Stars

Yes. I admit it. I was one of those people that loved reading THE GREAT GATSBY, so I was excited to hear about BEAUTIFUL LITTLE FOOLS by Jill Cantor. Let me tell you, her retelling didn’t disappoint. It gives fans a chance to relive the classic through a new lens. Same plot. Same characters. BEAUTIFUL LITTLE FOOLS is told from the women’s point of view, including capturing the limitations of women in the 1920s.

Beautiful Little Fools book cover

 

Cantor’s title is perfect! Perhaps you recall Daisy Buchanan’s quote in the classic when her daughter is born: “I hope she’ll be a fool — that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.”

SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE GREAT GATSBY (NOT FOR BEAUTIFUL LITTLE FOOLS)

*I’m going to assume you’ve read THE GREAT GATSBY or watched the movie at some point, so fair warning, there are some Gatsby spoilers in this review. It would be hard not to when reviewing a book heavily inspired by the original.

Readers know Jay Gatsby ends up dead in his swimming pool in the original, and readers believe George killed him in a jealous fit. In BEAUTIFUL LITTLE FOOLS Cantor turns the story into a murder mystery. She gives readers a reason to re-evaluate who murdered Jay when a hairpin is found in the bushes near the murder scene. A mobster hires Detective Frank Charles to determine the actual murderer.

WOMEN CHARACTERS COME ALIVE

The best fleshed out character in the classic is Daisy Buchanan. Married for financial security, she’s an unhappy socialite, but Cantor fills in more of her backstory. You may remember her best friend Jordan who is involved in a scandal on the golfing circuit. Cantor reveals her to be a lesbian. (It isn’t that big of a stretch from the insinuations in the classic.) Readers also dive deeper into Myrtle Wilson’s character. The wife of a garage mechanic, she’s unhappy with the lack of glitz and excitement in her life and becomes Tom Buchanan’s mistress. Catherine, Myrtle’s sister, was only a background character in one scene in the original. She now becomes a fully fleshed out character as a 1920s suffragette who had a casual relationship with Gatsby.

Cantor’s character development keeps the reader guessing who killed Gatsby. They each have a motive. Although Cantor makes some character choices based on the classic that I wouldn’t have, it was interesting to follow her vision of these women.

Although readers can enjoy BEAUTIFUL LITTLE FOOLS as a standalone, it fits best as a companion to THE GREAT GATSBY. Perhaps Fitzgerald wouldn’t have seen his characters exactly as Cantor develops them, yet it’s interesting to see how she develops storylines and backgrounds that fill in gray areas left by the original. And Cantor’s ending gives readers a twist you won’t see coming!

Have you read THE GREAT GATSBY? How long ago? Is it time to revisit this old friend? Or is it time to finally read this classic for the first time? What about watching the movie version on a cold winter evening? If you love the classic, you’ve got to read BEAUTIFUL LITTLE FOOLS.

Photo of Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby raising a glass of champagne

 

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Sneak Peek of Upcoming Book Reviews

It’s good to be back! And I’ve got some good stuff for you. I’ve returned with a sneak peek of upcoming book reviews! You see, I’ve been reading a lot. What else was a girl to do while recovering from surgery?Twisty road in Nevada desert

Life is full of twists and turns, valleys and mountaintops. Although I prefer the mountaintops, I’ve been traversing my way through the twists, turns and valleys for the last few months, including surgery for my rotator cuff and bicep. Although I had a similar surgery done two years ago on the other arm, this one has been a much harder recovery. So, three months later, I’m still having pain and I don’t have full range of movement, but I’m working through the PT to recover. I just couldn’t wait any longer to reconnect with you!

When I couldn’t hold my arm up to type yet, I read. So – I have some great book reviews coming up! I’ll spread them out so you don’t have to rush out to get them all at once. I found it interesting that I was picking a wider variety of books, some out of the genres I usually read. But that’s great! Maybe my venturing out will give you something new to consider, too. Some books are brand new and others have been out a few years.

A new book review will come out later this week. Make sure you watch your email for it! If you don’t get email notifications when I write a new blog, why not?  I promise I won’t stuff your inbox. (I normally only write 2-3 blogs per month.)  Don’t put it off. I know how it goes. If you tell yourself you’ll do it later, you probably won’t. You simply need to type in your email address. Sign up on the bottom of any page on my website or go directly to https://robinshelley.com/home/contact-info/.  Do it! Do it now!

And now… (drumroll please), here’s a sneak peek at some of the book reviews coming in the next few months ( in no particular order):

The Liz Taylor Ring by Brenda Janowitz, Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor (for The Great Gatsby fans), The Peachtree Bluff series by Kristy Woodson Harvey, This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith , Big Fish by Daniel Wallace, The Last Secret of the Secret Annex by Joop van Wijk-Voskuijl and Jeroen De Bruyn (for those interested in the Anne Frank story), The True Love Experiment by Christina Lauren, Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee, The Paris Daughter by Kristin Harmel, The Summer of Songbirds by Kristy Woodson Harvey, and The Secret Book of Flora Lea by Patti Callahan Henry.

Just a reminder:

Mother’s Day is just around the bend. Wouldn’t Mom love a good book for her spring/summer reading? If you order at bookshop.org, your purchase supports small, independent bookstores. You can even pick which store you want to support! (I’ve been supporting MacIntosh Books as they recover from the hurricane that hit the Sanibel Island/Fort Myers area in Florida.)