She was exceptional in so many ways, but she was also human. Z is the story of a complex and fascinating woman who was so much more than I knew when I began researching her life. But in the same way that none of us can be or should be defined by one aspect of our lives, Zelda cannot be defined so simply either. Popular culture (Midnight in Paris, for one example) has made Zelda into a caricature, reduced her to being only an edgy flapper, or only an unstable, jealous spouse, or only a pathetic, "insane" drain of her husband's creativity and life. My mission was to set the record straight. Much of what we think we know about the Fitzgeralds comes from unreliable sources or has been spun into half-true myth. My personal approach to biographical fiction is to unearth and then represent the truth, even when it contradicts what people think they know about the characters involved. Z is fiction, but my research was extensive and thorough, and in telling the story I've stayed very close to the established facts. You might appreciate knowing a little bit more about what went into the creation of the novel, and why I chose to write fiction about people whose lives are so thoroughly documented in biographies.
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