The shift into Book 2 should have been obvious but was nonetheless hard to grapple with. For the rest of the novel, Fitzgerald lifts the veil off of each character who, in Rosemary's eyes, were glamorous and aspirational. I was especially interested in Nicole. The treatment of her isn't unnecessarily cruel, but Fitzgerald and Dick Diver don't always have empathy for her. This casts a reflective light on both the romance between Fitzgerald and his lady Zelda and, as another reviewer here said, the gender roles of the era.

Beyond the Diver's marriage, each character and all interactions between them are crafted with impressive nuance, which makes for a fascinating and tragic read. Before this novel, I only had The Great Gatsby and Hemingway's anecdote of the hypochondriac Fitzgerald in A Moveable Feast to judge Fitzgerald on. Of course, I also knew about Zelda. I wonder if anyone has any thoughts in reconciling/psychoanalysing Fitzgerald as a paranoid neurotic as described by Hemingway versus Fitzgerald as a poignant observer as demonstrated in his writing ofTender is the Night. There is perhaps an underlying anxiety in his pessimism, his seeming faithlessness in people. Fitzgerald has been to one too many bad parties.