Beautiful Little Fools

 

Shirley J.            Adult Fiction                 A retelling of the Great Gatsby from the female point of view

Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor      368 pages  

When the copyright for the Great Gatsby ran out, author, Jillian Cantor decided to write a retelling of Gatsby's story but this time from the perspective of the female characters in F. Scott Fitzgerald's original novel.   This book is so good you won't want to put it down.    Granted, largely the appeal is gleaned from the original story but Jillian Cantor develops the personalities of all the women in the story letting the reader get to know them and why they did what happens in the book.  Amazingly done.  Fitzgerald might be miffed because she uses his story but she makes her own and if he were being totally honest she did an admirable job.   It was a real treat to get to see the story from the females' take on things and a fascinating addition to the original it makes.  It rounds out the telling like the difference between listening to a band and a symphony.   It is fuller and will give the reader a new understanding of the story.  Well worth the read.  I recommend this to middle schoolers on up.