Tender is the Night

by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Ugh, this book was so dry and hard to get through. Not for the light reader! This doesn’t mean it wasn’t absolutely fantastic when you put it all together. I have a huge crush of F. Scott Fitzgerald and was very interested in this book because I heard it was reflective of his own life and relationship with his wife, Zelda. In real life, his marriage to Zelda failed and he kind of saw himself as a great and ruined artist.

This book tells the story of Dick Diver, a young psychiatrist who marries a fragile heiress, Nicole, who happened to be one of his patients in a sanitarium and the unraveling of their relationship and Dick’s career. The story for the most part takes place in the French Riviera where Dick meets a young actress, Rosemary.

Fitzgerald was able to invoke such an intricate dynamic of a troubled group of people who are complex, yet glamorous. This book is really fantastic and very interesting in terms of it’s autobiographical nature, but you can’t read this one quickly! You have to take your time.