Beautiful Little Fools

As someone who has long hated The Great Gatsby (or my alternate title of They're All Terrible People), this was the book we should have been assigned to read as a companion.

If you're a fan of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, this novel definitely needs to be on your list. Cantor reimagines the story from a different vantage point, with POV chapters from Daisy Buchanan, Jordan Baker, and a new character Charlotte, who is Myrtle Wilson's sister, newly arrived in New York and desperate to get Myrtle away from what she perceives is an abusive marriage to George and a ill-advised affair with Tom Buchanan. The novel's premise is loosely organized around the question of who REALLY shot Jay Gatsby (assuming it's not George) and to that end, there's a policeman hanging around asking questions of all three ladies. Nick Carraway makes an appearance as do many of our favorite scenes (Daisy and Jordan's floating dresses, Daisy's discover of Tom's affair, the fatal car accident in the yellow Rolls) but this time it's seen from a female-centric gaze and that turns the whole story on its head. Fascinating premise well executed. I read it in a day.

My thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.