By Morgan Kwok
Between Woody Allen’s ‘Midnight in Paris’ and Baz Lurman’s recent film adaptation of the ‘The Great Gatsby’, there has been little hope of escaping a feeling of cultural nostalgia for the roaring 20s. Perhaps it is a daydream of bounty formed out of widespread economic difficulty; perhaps it is only a fashionable whim. In either case flapper dresses and vinyl alike have infiltrated popular imagination, for better or for worse.
Erika Robuck begins in 1932, when the social flowers of the 20’s had started to wilt. She gives us the ‘morning-after’, the smudged make-up and the melancholy. Her protagonist, a widowed psychiatric nurse, is charged with the care of Zelda Fitzgerald, perhaps the most infamous bloom of the era. The tumultuous relationship between Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald has been fruit for speculation since its beginning, but here Robuck tries for something with more gravity than celebrity gossip. She addresses the idea of creative imperative, of prioritizing others over oneself, and the burden of being a muse. Zelda is caught between those who take from her (her husband) and those who nurture her (the nurse), with all relationships smacking of imbalance and dramatic affection.
The story is not unentertaining, and Robuck’s prose is light and easy to digest. It is readable, not riveting. The characters, excepting the famous couple, are awkwardly formed but not unbelievable. It starts promisingly, with plenty of meaningful hints towards the past and eyelash-rimmed glances from one character to another. However, these hints and stolen looks quickly deteriorate towards tears and long-winded emotional anecdotes. The protagonist spends a lot of time wallowing and worrying, so much so that it is difficult to muster much anxiety over her predicament.
The context that her characters populate is thoughtfully rendered and carefully researched. Everything from the style of dress to the smell of war is preserved and presented with an unaffected ease. Robuck has a history of history, being a member of the Historical Novel Society and having produced the successful ‘Hemmingway’s Girl’.
All in all, ‘Call Me Zelda’ is a quick and entertaining read. The protagonist is something of a wet hen, but perhaps such a personality is necessary to complement Zelda Fitzgerald herself. The novel is at times a discussion of the creative process, at times an examination of affection and sacrifice, but in a word is saccharine.
‘Call Me Zelda’ By Erika Robuck, Published by the Penguin Group 2013
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