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Zelda Fitzgerald is known as “the first American flapper” and an icon of the Jazz Age, but you may be surprised to learn that beneath the glittering facade, there was substance—and literary talent. Her sole published novel, “Save Me the Waltz,” is a poignant blend of beauty and biography that draws on her complex personal narrative, including her childhood in Alabama, her marriage to F. Scott Fitzgerald, and her attempt to become a professional ballerina in Paris at the age of 25.

Joining us is Stephanie Peebles Tavera, an assistant professor of English at Texas A&M University Kingsville and author of the 2022 work “(P)rescription Narratives: Feminist Medical Fiction and the Failure of American Censorship,” from Edinburgh University Press. An essay Stephanie wrote about Zelda and “Save Me the Waltz” will be included in an upcoming collection called “American Writers in Paris: Then and Now.” 

Discussed in this episode: 

Lost Ladies of Lit Episode No. 135 on Zelda’s Paper Dolls

“Save Me the Waltz” by Zelda Fitzgerald (Handheld Press)

“(P)rescription Narratives: Feminist Medical Fiction and the Failure of American Censorship” by Stephanie Peebles Tavera

Helen Brent, M.D. by Annie Nathan Meyer

Paris Opera Ballet 

“Zelda” by Nancy Milford

“This Side of Paradise” by F. Scott Fitzgerald

“Tender Is the Night” by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Maxwell Perkins

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