TENDER IS THE NIGHT

A modern classic by the revered American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald, famed for his depiction of the roaring ‘20s and the coining of the Jazz Age - a period of carefree hedonism, wealth and the illusion of the American Dream. ‘Tender is the Night’ is the author’s fourth and final book that alludes to his own tumultuous life including the cracks within his own marriage and perhaps the inspiration for this more serious portrait of a decadent era. A must read for Gatsby fans who are prepared for more darker secrets and an enlightening assessment of this period.

It’s 1924 at the start of the novel and the reader is presented with a lively and glamorous group of American ex-pats enjoying their summer on the French Riviera. At the centre of the friendship circle are the golden couple Dick and Nicole Diver who exude magnetism and it is against this backdrop that the young beautiful movie star, Rosemary Hoyt, finds herself bewitched by the Divers and happy to be welcomed into their group and tagging along to the Diver’s summer plans that involves lavish parties, excessive drinking and unexpected dramas.

Rosemary, young and naive, instantly falls for Dick but can not see the troubles that lie between Dick and his wife. Nicole has a secret and Dick has a weakness which we begin to see glimpses of. Rosemary finds herself entangled in the couple’s lives encouraged by her mother, however as a working woman, Rosemary, has to balance her love interest with her busy film schedule. And just as the reader is settling into the Diver parties at Villa Diana and a gun duel (and what or what wasn’t seen in the bathroom!) Fitzgerald takes the author back to 1917 in which Dick Diver a medical student and scholar finds himself pursuing a career in psychiatry and persuaded by his mentor and business partner to marry one of their patients, a younger Nicole Warren. Dick is the embodiment of the American Dream, ambitious and promising. However his marriage to Nicole in spite of her huge riches and family wealth cannot offset his inability to pursue a rewarding career and a sense of self worth. Attracted by Rosemary’s beauty an affair is inevitable, however Dick has to juggle his love affair with his commitments to Nicole. This is a mid life crisis and the novel tackles this along with mental health, depression and alcoholism as we see the American Dream begin to crumble through Dick and his friends.

Whilst 'The Great Gatsby' remains a literary classic studied and celebrated with film adaptations, ‘Tender Is the Night’ is an illuminating novel that laid out both the new possibilities of the Jazz Age as well as the dangers.