“Pure and lovely…to read Zelda’s letters is to fall in love with her.” — The Washington Post Edited by renowned Jackson R. Bryer and Cathy W. Barks, with an introduction by Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald's granddaughter, Eleanor Lanahan, this compilation of over three hundred letters tells the couple's epic love story in their own words. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald's devotion to each other endured for more than twenty-two years, through the highs and lows of his literary success and alcoholism, and her mental illness. In Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda , over 300 of their collected love letters show why theirs has long been heralded as one of the greatest love stories of the 20th century. Edited by renowned Fitzgerald scholars Jackson R. Bryer and Cathy W. Barks, with an introduction by Scott and Zelda's granddaughter, Eleanor Lanahan, this is a welcome addition to the Fitzgerald literary canon. “Zelda writes in direct yet passionate prose, Fitzgerald with a poetic flair reminiscent of his fiction. The result is an engrossing account of their love story — full of longing and ardor, heartbreak and betrayal…their letters portray something a singular, enigmatic connection.” — Paul Alexander, The Washington Post “Read this book for Zelda… a funny, hard-boiled observer of her own life whose letters read like short stand-up sequences… She has no secondhand impressions or turns of phrase — everything she writes and thinks feels tart, original, lightly distressing… after reading these letters what strikes you is [the Fitzgeralds’] steadiness, a shocking word to apply to them… their bond proved stubborn and sturdy, and survived it all.” – Parul Sehgal, The New York Times "A moving portrait of a two-decades-long, complicated, and deep love affair." — Publishers Weekly "A rich, poignant portrait of [the Fitzgeralds'] complicated relationship." — The Baltimore Sun "This exceptionally moving correspondence reveals two ardent and creative souls struggling with the ruthless demands of the artistic imperative." — Booklist "A boon for general readers as well as literary scholars." — Kirkus Reviews "Bryer and Barks's work leads readers through one of the most passionate love affairs of the twentieth century." — Montgomery Advertiser “The flamboyant Jazz Age couple were devoted letter writers… Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda tells their love story in their own words.” — Garden & Gun F. Scott Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1896. He attended Princeton University, joined the United States Army during World War I, and published his first novel, This Side of Paradise , in 1920. That same year he married Zelda Sayre and for the next decade the couple lived in New York, Paris, and on the Riviera. Fitzgerald’s novels include The Beautiful and Damned , The Great Gatsby , and Tender Is the Night . He died at the age of forty-four while working on The Last Tycoon . Fitzgerald’s fiction has secured his reputation as one of the most important American writers of the twentieth century. Eleanor Lanahan attended Sarah Lawrence College and the Rhode Island School of Design. After twenty years of commercial illustration and for children’s books under the married name Eleanor Hazard, she illustrated The Big Green Book by Madeleine Kunin and Marilyn Stout. As Eleanor Lanahan, she wrote the books Scottie, The Daughter of... and Zelda, An Illustrated Life , as well as animated the movies The Naked Hitch-Hiker and One Alcoholic to Another . Lanahan lives in Vermont. Dear Scott, Dearest Zelda Scott and Zelda first met in Montgomery, Alabama, Zelda’s hometown, in July 1918, probably at a country club dance. Zelda, who had just graduated from high school and was still the town’s most popular girl, turned eighteen that month; Scott, who had attended Princeton and was now a lieutenant in the infantry, would be twenty-two that fall. In her autobiographical novel, Save Me the Waltz (1932), Zelda recalled that Scott, so handsome in his tailor-made Brooks Brothers uniform, had “smelled like new goods” as she nestled her “face in the space between his ear and his stiff army collar” while they danced (Collected Writings 39). Just two months later, Scott recorded in his Ledger the event that would shape the rest of his life and much of his work: “Sept.: Fell in love on the 7th”(Ledger 173). That same month, Scott summed up his twenty-first year: On his birthday, he wrote, “A year of enormous importance. Work, and Zelda. Last year as a Catholic” (Ledger 172). The major decisions that a young man coming of age makes—matters of vocation, love, and faith—had been decided. Scott, although still untried and immature in many ways, had adamantly committed himself to becoming “one of the greatest writers who ever lived” (as he told his college friend Edmund “Bunny” Wilson) and to having the “top girl” at his side to share the storybook life he envisioned. During his years at Princeton University, his academic life ha