A Son of the Rock

The idea was the good lady and I would read both this book and Tender is the Night (written of course by Zelda’s husband F Scott) in order to compare and contrast.

There are similarities between the two novels, both feed on the relationship between the spouses and their lives, both have dialogue that is full of non-sequiturs, both can be irritating.

Save Me the Waltz is perhaps more explicitly autobiographical, the protagonist Alabama Beggs is the youngest of three sisters and marries David Knight during the Great War. Subsequently the Knights have a daughter.

The first part of the novel describes Alabama’s young life before marriage and is much the best part of the book. The main narrative takes place after the war when the family is living in France. About halfway through the novel Alabama decides to take up ballet dancing – despite the fact that she is really too old. After hard work she eventually makes a fist of it and is offered a part in a ballet in Naples. This is only after we are treated to interminable, tedious descriptions of her lessons with Madame. This is of course detrimental to the marriage. I still found Save me the Waltz more readable than Tender is the Night, though.

Shrunk count 1, plus a “use to.”