I truly desired to have a liking for this book. I have a penchant for the genre of historical fiction/non-fiction, especially when it offers a unique perspective presented by a female within a larger, well-known male-driven narrative.

However, to be completely honest, this book was of poor quality. In fact, I would go as far as to say it was dreadful.

I should have been forewarned by the self-righteous biography on the back flap, which indicated that this book was not going to measure up to a work like Loving Frank. The author managed to cram three Ivy League degrees into her bio and mention her marriage to an apparently famous author. So what? Your book was bad.

Here are the reasons why I initially wanted to like this book:

- I adored Loving Frank and was informed that this book was very similar to it.

- I was intrigued to learn the backstory of F. Scott Fitzgerald's muse, even if it was exaggerated and fictionalized.

- I was curious to hear about the high society life in Lake Forest at the turn of the century.

Here are the reasons why I thought this book was terrible:

- The "protagonist," Ginevra, was inadequately developed. If this book had been successful, the reader might have forgiven her self-absorption and idiocy as a result of her sheltered upbringing. As it stands, she simply comes across as a spoiled brat.

- All the other characters in this book were either poorly developed or not developed at all, making the events in the book seem unrealistic, improbable, and not in the least bit fascinating. For instance, the affair that Ginevra had with her son's tutor? Weak. The split with her husband, which was due to many factors but partly because of her enabling her sick son's obsession with movies? Awful.

- This book had the potential to chronicle the life crisis of a woman living during a crucial time period, but it simply failed to do so.

Why did I finish this book when it was so bad? Because I was on vacation and it was the only book I had brought with me.

Please don't make the same mistake I did. Don't be misled into thinking that this book will be like Loving Frank, Devil in the White City, Lucy, etc.

It's simply not worth the time.

In a lot of ways, I'm sort of ambivalent about this book.

I did quite enjoy the story which focuses on the youth and middle age of a debutante in the early twentieth century. The girl in question is Ginevra Perry. She's beautiful, rich, and popular. Bored at her all-girls boarding school, she decides it would be pleasant to fall in love with that young writer from Princeton she met on a frigid night in St. Paul and who writes very lovely letters. However, since youth is fickle, she callously throws him over and marries a boring aviator, only to repeatedly find herself in the pages of her former flame's popular novels.

This is Ginevra's story through and through, and I liked her growth as a character. What irked me slightly is that this could have been loosely based on the Scott Fitzgerald/Ginevra King story without naming the author and keeping the first name of the girl. It's not really about Ginevra King but more a combination of the debutante and every character rumored to be based on her. The author wrote the book she wanted to write (as seen in her afterward), and it was compelling. Ginevra is a strong, likable character despite her flaws. But it wasn't entirely the book I wanted. I would recommend it, but not as proper historical fiction.

I found this book to be an absolute page-turner.

The claim that the main character matures over the course of it is, without a doubt, debatable.

However, what cannot be disputed is the fact that she is an engaging and believable character.

Her actions and decisions throughout the story draw the reader in and make them invested in her journey.

Whether or not she truly matures is up for interpretation, but the author does a great job of presenting her in a way that makes her relatable and interesting.

The book's fast-paced plot and well-developed characters keep the reader on the edge of their seat from beginning to end.

Overall, it is a great read that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for an exciting and thought-provoking story.

At the beginning of this book, 15-year-old Chicago socialite Ginevra, named after a painting by Leonardo da Vinci, is sent to Westover, a strict boarding school as punishment for a brief "engagement" to a young man from her social set. She is beautiful, intelligent (though not intellectual) and a major flirt.

At a sledding party hosted by her roommate, she meets another young man. Unbeknownst to her at that time, he will become an important footnote in her life. He is F. Scott Fitzgerald, a student and aspiring writer attending Princeton (though his grades are barely passing). Although Ginevra's first impression of him is that he is too short and slight for her taste, he wins her over with his wit, charm and good looks. He even sends her a picture of himself dressed as a convincing chorus girl from a performance with the Triangle Club, an on-campus theatrical troupe for which he writes many plays and songs.

They exchange long, love-struck letters every few days. Although she corrects his spelling, she can tell through his accurate observations of people that he has writing talent, though she doesn't understand his desire to make a living from it. Their brief affair ends when Scott invites himself to Ginevra's family mansion in Lake Forest before going home after visiting his dysfunctional family in St. Paul. He makes off-putting remarks about her home, her friends and, like his father, is developing a taste for alcohol. Still a "Daddy's Girl" at heart and rapidly losing interest in Scott, she listens to her father's advice to end the relationship because "Rich Girls Don't Marry Poor Boys".

A few years later, as a married and bored young mother, Ginevra sees one of Scott's stories in a magazine with a byline that he is a promising young writer. She notices that he writes about her friends and especially herself in a cutting way. At first ambivalent, she then starts clipping his stories and later reads his novels, seeing herself in characters like Isabelle Borges from "This Side Of Paradise" and most of all as Daisy Buchanan from "The Great Gatsby".

The years pass and as Ginevra becomes more disenchanted with her husband, her fascination with Scott reignites, leading her to make some rash decisions about her life. Although F. Scott Fitzgerald's books appealed to both genders, this book primarily focuses on Ginevra and issues that many women face, such as choosing the right husband, raising children (one of her two sons seems to have Autism) and finding personal fulfillment. In this regard, the book succeeds well. The fact that the main character was a famous writer's "Muse" adds an interesting dimension.

I liked this book, but I kept in mind that many of the incidents were the product of the author's imagination. If you want a more accurate account of Ginevra, you might want to read a different book. One thing that bothered me was the constant reminder of the time period with phrases like "I was reading that new book, watching the recently released (fill in the blank)". Overall, however, I found this book to be a quick and interesting read.