DAISY by Libby Sternberg
A retelling of The Great Gatsby from Daisy Buchanan's point of view.
No empty-headed fool, Daisy Buchanan tells her side of the story of that tumultuous summer in the 1920s when she encountered her first love, Jay Gatsby, again. Unlike her cousin Nick's recounting, her version tells readers what was in the letter that Jay sent to her on the eve of her wedding to Tom Buchanan that almost had her calling off the ceremony, and who was really driving the car that killed her husband's mistress.
Quarter Finalist
Assessment:
Plot: Introducing a feisty protagonist with a girlish charm, Sternberg’s book shifts the storytelling genius from Fitzgerald to Nick Carraway, applying the Austenian concept of an unreliable narrator to The Great Gatsby. Sternberg requires readers to submit to layers of fantasy, by contrasting different realities in her still fictional world.
Prose/Style: The author writes with a poised composure that reads like a continuation of Fitzgerald’s prose. However, the novel feels like a classical fusion of nineteenth-century literature with Jane Eyre’s direct address to the reader and Emma’s protagonist that cleverly orchestrates all things.
Originality: The author reconstructs a timeless American novel by adding compassion to Fitzgerald’s superficial relationships. Rather than defining her characters by wealth, she strips her story of financial interest and focuses on romance and female empowerment. Her book offers a new perspective that alters how one perceives Fitzgerald’s characters.
Character Development/Execution: This book’s modernization applies the female agenda in today’s society to the social construct of the 1920s. It provides an inspirational heroine that escapes gender inferiority. In Fitzgerald’s novel, Daisy acts as an ornament to the male species, yet in this book, the author gives her agency.
Blurb: A delightful portrayal of a female character claiming the story as her own, repossessing her own voice.
Date Submitted: April 01, 2021
An interview with me by a writing student about my novel Daisy.
