Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor – 336 pages

ARC from Harper Perennial for an honest review 

Book Blurb:

Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor shares what happens on a sultry August day in 1922, when Jay Gatsby is shot dead in his West Egg swimming pool. To the police, it appears to be an open-and-shut case of murder/suicide when the body of George Wilson, a local mechanic, is found in the woods nearby.
Then a diamond hairpin is discovered in the bushes by the pool, and three women fall under suspicion. Each holds a key that can unlock the truth to the mysterious life and death of this enigmatic millionaire.
Daisy Buchanan once thought she might marry Gatsby—before her family was torn apart by an unspeakable tragedy that sent her into the arms of the philandering Tom Buchanan.
Jordan Baker, Daisy’s best friend, guards a secret that derailed her promising golf career and threatens to ruin her friendship with Daisy as well.
Catherine McCoy, a suffragette, fights for women’s freedom and independence, and especially for her sister, Myrtle Wilson, who’s trapped in a terrible marriage.
Their stories unfold in the years leading up to that fateful summer of 1922, when all three of their lives are on the brink of unraveling. Each woman is pulled deeper into Jay Gatsby’s romantic obsession, with devastating consequences for all of them.

My Review: 4 stars

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Beautiful Little Fools by Jillian Cantor brings you deep into the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby with a unique spin. Cantor tells the story from the womens’ point of view, rather than from a male POV as it was told in the orginal book, released in 1925. I was a bit concerned when I began as I hadn’t read The Great Gatsby since high school and my cobwebbed brain remembers very little expect that Jay Gatsby was shot. Honestly, it didn’t matter at all! Cantor masterfully brings all readers into the fold and this book completely stands alone. Actually,  this new version has encouraged me to re-read the original to get to know these women as presented in the original book. 

By telling this from a feminist POV, we see first-hand the struggles of women during that time-period and the way in which the world seemed to revolve around the men. The characters are drawn with depth and personality, each owning their actions based on their past experiences. Money talked and its allure post WW1 added to the overall atmosphere. 

Everything from the women who forgave or ignored multiple infidelities, those that found solace with other women, and those who were infidels themselves were explored as were themes of sisterhood. I enjoyed that this book offered a bit of mystery, a lot of historical detail and a compelling storyline. I’ve been a huge fan of Cantor for many, many years because her books never disappoint. 

Quotes I liked:

He loved me; he needed me. And that made me more than a fool, didn’t it? That, in itself, gave me all the power.” 

“A woman who marries for love is a foolish woman, Jordan.”

“I always thought it was us women who were the fools. But I was wrong, it’s been the men all along, hasn’t it?”