The Z of the title is Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of F Scott, and this is a fictional version of her life, narrated by a fictional version of her. She comes from Alabama, just about as deeply Deep South as you can get, with a starchy family to match. In an early scene the young Zelda tries to get out of wearing a corset but is overruled; in a way, this sets the tone beautifully for what is to come. She’s a tomboy. She will, we know, become a siren of the Roaring Twenties. When she meets her future husband, F Scott, he smiles at her, and, with that smile, the die is cast. Very nicely done, and very readable.
