The Perfect Hour: The Romance of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ginevra King, His First Love (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780812973273)

In The Perfect Hour, biographer James L. W. West III reveals the never-before told story of the romance between F. Scott Fitzgerald and his first love, Ginevra King. They met in January 1915, when Scott was nineteen, a Princeton student, and sixteen-year-old Ginevra, socially poised and confident, was a sophomore at Westover School. Their romance flourished in heartfelt letters and quickly ran its course-but Scott never forgot it. Ginevra became the inspiration for Isabelle Borg in This Side of Paradise and the model for Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. Scott also wrote short stories inspired by her-including "Babes in the Woods" and "Winter Dreams," which, along with Ginevra's own story featuring Scott are reprinted in this volume. With access to Ginevra's personal diary, love letters, photographs, and Scott's own scrapbook, West tells the beguiling story of youthful passion that shaped Scott Fitzgerald's life as a writer.
For Scott and Ginevra, "the perfect hour" was private code for a fleeting time they almost shared and then yearned after for the rest of their lives. Now West brings that perfect hour back to life in all its freshness, delicacy, and poignant brevity.

Author: James L. W. West
ISBN-10: 0812973275
ISBN-13: 9780812973273
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Language: English
Published: 02/14/2006
Pages: 240
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.38lbs
Size: 8.06h x 5.26w x 0.52d

Review Citation(s):
Foreword 05/01/2005 pg. 1