Zelda (68 page)

   150 Scott later wrote that the story…: FSF to ZSF, June 13, 1934.

   150 Zelda had written them…:
Letters
, p. 223.

   151 As she says of one of them…: “The Original Follies Girl”
College Humor
, July 29, p. 41.

   152 “You know how sweethearts have a song…”: H. N. Swanson, “The Last Word,”
College Humor
, October 1929, p. 134.

   152 She and Scott attended few parties…: See Callaghan,
That Summer in Paris
, pp. 152, 162–163, 193. There is also a lot of this in Hemingway,
A Moveable Feast.

   153 He has Dick say…:
Tender
, p. 301.

   153 Zelda wrote, “Nobody knew whose party…”:
SMTW
, p. 99.

   153 “To be a tall rich American girl…”: Cowley—
Tender
, p. 341. See Hemingway,
A Moveable Feast
, p. 181.

   154 Hemingway must have relayed the accusation…:
Letters
, p. 216.

   154 Then they came back out and began to cross…: Callaghan,
That Summer in Paris
, p. 207.

   
154 He said: “The laughter was her own…”: Gerald Murphy to NM, interview, April 26, 1963.

   155 “There were all sorts and varieties …”:
Ibid.

   155 Sara Murphy said, “I don’t think he knew…”: Sara Murphy to NM, interview, April 26, 1963.

   155 “She once wrote Scott…”: Sara Murphy to FSF, n.d.

   155 “My latest tendency is to collapse …”:
Letters
, p. 306.

   156 It was on the automobile trip back to Paris…: ZSF, “Autobiographical Sketch,” March 16, 1932.

   156 Zelda wrote, “There were Americans…”:
SMTW
, p. 102.

   156 On September 23, 1929, Zelda was invited…: Madame Julia Sedova to ZSF, September 23, 1929.

   157 As late as 1936 he was writing…:
Letters
, p. 402.

   157 “It was a trying winter,”…:
CU
, p. 51.

   157 “We immediately sensed something wrong…”: Gerald Murphy to NM, interview, March 2, 1964.

   158 During a luncheon party in April…: Mrs. C. O. Kalman to NM, interview, September 1964.

   158 Madame Egorova, too, had begun to notice…: Princess Lubov Troubetskoy-Egorova to NM, October 31, 1968.

   159 Scott wrote Perkins at the time…:
Letters
, p. 222.

   160 Later she was to write of that journey…: ZSF, “Autobiographical Sketch,” March 16, 1932.

Chapter 11

   161 She was diagnosed…: Dr. Oscar Forel to NM, March 9, 1966.

In the many years that have passed since Dr. Forel first diagnosed Zelda he has “put aside” that original diagnosis of schizophrenia. “…apart from the clinical and classical forms…certain symptoms and behaviours or activities, are called
schizoid
and this does not mean that the person is schizophrenic.” (Dr. Forel to NM, May 18, 1966.)

   162 James Joyce’s daughter…: Richard Ellmann,
James Joyce
, Oxford University Press, New York, 1959, pp. 677, 687–688.

   162 Dr. Forel noted…: Prangins.

   162 Scott wrote to Dr. Forel on the same day…: FSF to Dr. Oscar Forel, June 8, 1930.

   163 “…as she would have it understood…”:
Ibid.

   163 “When I saw the sadness…”: FSF to ZSF, n.d. (ca. summer 1930).

   164 She wrote Scott…: Mrs. A. D. Sayre to FSF, July 14, 1930.

   164 She had gone through similar periods…: Mrs. A. D. Sayre to FSF, July 16, 1930.

   164 “Just at the point in my life…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d. (ca. June 1930).

All of the following letters quoted in this chapter from Zelda to Scott were written during the 15 months Zelda was in Prangins and none of them were dated. When there is internal evidence from which to hazard a fairly close guess of the date, I do so. For example, in this letter Zelda asks Scott to write to Egorova. He wrote to her on June 22, 1930.

   165 Dr. Forel was absolutely certain…: Dr. Forel to FSF, June 23, 1930.

   166 She wrote that Zelda…: Princess Lubov Troubetskoy-Egorova to FSF, July 9, 1930.

   166 “Every day it seems
to
me…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d.

   167 “There is no use my trying …”: ZSF to FSF, n.d.

   168 “To recapitulate:…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d.

   169 Knowing how defeated…: FSF to Dr. Oscar Forel, July 14, 1930.

   169 By mid-June Zelda…: Prangins.

   169 “On her admittance she had been …”:
Tender
, p. 183.

   169 “Please, out of charity …”: ZSF to FSF, ca. June, 1930.

   170 “The panic seems to have settled …”: ZSF to FSF, n.d.

   
170 In early fall Scott wrote Maxwell Perkins…:
Letters
, p. 224.

   170 “When I last saw you…”: FSF to Dr. Oscar Forel, n.d. (ca. summer 1930).

   172 He had begun to work on a sixth draft…: See Matthew J. Bruccoli,
The Composition of Tender Is the Night
, pp. 67, 69. See also “One Trip Abroad,”
Afternoon of an Author
, pp. 147, 164. Although the Fitzgeralds’ connection to the Kellys is clear enough, it is worth noticing that it was Gerald Murphy, and not Scott, who was funded by a private income, just as it was he who painted a 12′ × 18′ picture of a smokestack from an ocean liner (“Boatdeck: Cunarder”)—which achieved something of a succès scandale in Paris at the Salon des Independents in 1923.

   173 “I hope it will be nice at Caux…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d. (ca. August 1930).

   173 “I wish I could see you…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d. (ca. August/September 1930).
174–176 Once when things seemed very black…: Prangins, Summer 1930.

   176 “I have read Zelda’s manuscripts…”: Maxwell Perkins to FSF, August 5, 1930.

   176 Scott replied that he…:
Letters
, p. 224.

   176 She wrote Scott:…
“Please…
”; ZSF to FSF, n.d. (ca. end of August 1930).

   177 “I seem awfully queer…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d.

   177 He hypnotized Zelda…: Dr. Oscar Forel to NM, May 6, 1966.

   178 “Goofy, my darling…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d.

   178 Although by the end of October…: Prangins.

   179 Dr. Forel says…: Dr. Oscar Forel to NM, May 6, 1966.

   179 Dr. Forel wrote…: Prangins, October 15, 1930.

   179 Scott wrote Judge and Mrs. Sayre…: FSF to Judge and Mrs. Sayre, December 1, 1930.

   179 Zelda’s personal reaction…: Dr. Oscar Forel to FSF, December 1, 1930. (“…
que votre femme traite de grand imbécile.”)

   179 Bleuler told Scott…: FSF to Judge and Mrs. Sayre, December 1, 1930.

   180 “It is excellent…”: ZSF to Scottie, ca. winter 1930.

   181 “
I
know this then—…”. FSF, “Written with Zelda Gone to the Clinique,” n.d.

   183
(fn)
According to his biographer…: Arthur Mizener,
The Far Side of Paradise
, p. 56.

   183 “Your letter is not…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d. (ca. summer 1930).

   184 “I am tired of rummaging my head…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d.

   185 He said that, although a first-year medical…: FSF to Dr. Oscar Forel, January 29, 1931.

   185 “In brief my idea is this…”:
Ibid.

   186 “Then she went into the other personality…”:
Ibid.

   186 She ate her meals at the table…: Prangins.

   187 “I keep thinking of Provence…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d. (ca. spring 1931).

   188 “I can’t write…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d. (ca. spring 1931).

   188 Gerald Murphy, who was living with his family…: Gerald Murphy to NM, interview, March 2, 1964.

   189 “I went to Geneva all by myself…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d. (ca. spring 1931).

   189 They said they would never…:
CU
, pp. 52–53.

   190 “My dearest and most precious…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d. (ca. end of July 1931).

   190 “At first we were petrified…”: Gerald Murphy to NM, interview, March 2, 1964.

   190 “Well, it’s all written…”:
Ibid.
See
Tender
, pp. 261–265.

   191 “Please don’t be depressed…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d. (ca. summer 1931).

   191 Her case was summarized…: Prangins.

   191 Earlier that year…: ZSF to FSF, n.d.

Chapter 12

   192 Zelda wrote. “In Alabama…”:
CU
, p. 54.

   193 By October Scott was bored…: Ledger, p. 186.

   193 He wrote at the top…:
Ibid.

   193 “You know the kind: women of fifty…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d.

All of Zelda’s letters to Scott which are quoted in this chapter were written
between the end of October and December 20, while he was in Hollywood. None were dated.

   194…She finished at least seven stories…: “All About the Down’s Case” (the revised story), “Cotton Belt,” “Sweet Chariot,” “Getting Away From It All,” “The Story Thus Far,” “A Myth in A Moral,” and “A Couple of Nuts.”

   194
“Please
tell me your
frank
opinion…”: ZSF to Harold Ober, December 21, 1931.

   194 The story is about a young American couple…: “A Couple of Nuts,”
Scribner’s Magazine
, August 1932, pp. 80, 82, 84.

   195 The story was reviewed in St. Paul…: James Gray, “St. Paul’s Family of Writers Have Almost Scribner’s Monopoly.” The St. Paul Dispatch. This newspaper clipping is in one of Zelda’s clipping albums.

   197 In an obituary in the Montgomery newspaper…: The
Montgomery Advertiser
, November 19, 1931.

   201 In late November Scott wrote Dr. Forel…: FSF to Dr. Forel, November 1931.

   202 In the December issue of
Scribner’s…
: “Miss Ella,”
Scribner’s Magazine
, December 1931, pp. 661–665.

   203 Miss Ella’s life seems as orderly…:
Ibid.
, p. 663.

   204 “Even her moments of relaxation were…”:
Ibid.
, p. 661.

   205 Their plans for a life together were…:
Ibid.
, pp. 663–664.

   207 Buoyed by their holiday, Scott wrote…:
Letters
, p. 226.

   208 Without warning a spot of eczema…: FSF to Dr. Oscar Forel, February 1, 1932.

   208 “She had been working all day …”:
Ibid.

   208 Scott was worried and told Forel: “For the first time…”:
Ibid.

   209 “My haste,” Scott later wrote…: FSF to Dr. Oscar Forel, April 18, 1932.

Chapter 13

   213 The end of February Zelda wrote…: ZSF to Scottie, n.d. (postmarked February 29, 1932).

   214 In his Ledger he wrote, “Scotty…”: Ledger, p. 186.

   214 Zelda seemed to understand how deeply…: ZSF to FSF, n.d.

   214 A friend of theirs remembers Fitzgerald gently…: John Tilley to NM, interview, July 27, 1963.

   214 “We always have such fun pricking …”: ZSF to FSF, n.d. (ca. February, 1932).

   215 “I am reading Ian Gordon’s…”:
Ibid.

   215 “I am proud of my novel…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d. (ca. end of February/early March 1932).

   215 “The lack of continuity in her novel…”: FSF to Dr. Mildred T. Squires, March 8, 1932.

   216 Zelda sent it immediately to Maxwell Perkins…: ZSF to Maxwell Perkins, n.d. (postmarked March 12, 1932).

   216 For four years, he wrote, he had been forced…: FSF to Dr. Mildred T. Squires, March 14, 1932.

   216 “It is getting more and more difficult…”:
Ibid.

   217 His anger did not subside and two days later he wired…: FSF to Maxwell Perkins, March 16, 1932.

   217 In January, 1932, he proceeded to sketch out a longer novel…-.
Letters
, p. 226.

   217 In early spring Scott drew up his “General Plan”…: This material as well as the “Further Sketch” and the chart paralleling Zelda’s case with Nicole Diver’s—reproduced for the first time—is drawn from the Fitzgerald Collection at Princeton University Library.

   219 His income in 1931 was at its apex…: Ledger, p. 67.

   220 “Dr. Squires tells me you are hurt…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d. (ca. March 1932).

   221 She answered: “Dear—You know…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d. (ca. March 1932).

   221 “Of cource, I glad[ly] submit to anything…”: ZSF to FSF, n.d. (ca. March 1932).

   222 Yet at the end of March just before he left Alabama…: FSF to Dr. Mildred T. Squires (ca. March 1932).

   222 On the other hand, he could not “stand always…”:
Ibid.

Chapter 14

   224
Save Me the Waltz is
not a defense…:
SMTW
, p. 57.

   224 “Zelda’s novel is now good…”:
Letters
, pp. 226–227.

   225 Then he asked Perkins to keep whatever praise…:
Ibid.
, p. 227.

   225 “… I’m not certain enough of Zelda’s present…”:
Ibid.

   225 He wrote: “Here is Zelda’s novel…”:
Ibid.
, p. 228.

   225 Somewhat cavalierly Fitzgerald added that he would withdraw his restraint on praise…:
Ibid.
, pp. 228–229.

   226 Alabama has overheard David telling Miss Gibbs…:
SMTW
, pp. 109–111.

   226 The following morning…:
Ibid.
, p. 117.

   227 “I can’t stand this any longer…”:
Ibid.

   227 When David tells her that he understands…:
Ibid.
, p. 118.

   227 But she has also turned to the dance…:
Ibid.
, p. 116.

   227 Alabama says, “Can’t you understand that…”:
Ibid.
, p. 141.

   228 She establishes the Judge’s importance at the beginning…:
Ibid.
, p. 3.

   228–229 He is “entrenched… in his integrity…”:
Ibid.

   229 “By the time the Beggs children had learned…”:
Ibid.
, p. 4.

   229 It is to her that the girls turn for relief…:
Ibid.
, p. 5.