Tender is the Night

More about the book

Nicole, the daughter of a millionaire, is not fully recovered from a severe mental illness and is deeply dependent on her husband, Dick, a successful doctor and co-owner of a sanatorium for the mentally ill, who owes his flourishing career to his wife's wealth. Their lives on the French Riviera are disrupted by the arrival of Rosemary, a young aspiring actress. This psychological novel, first published in 1934, offers a captivating glimpse into the lives of the wealthy who can afford anything they desire. Fitzgerald's fascination with a consumerist lifestyle is met with sharp, unrelenting criticism, a hallmark of his writing. The duality of the main characters, who appear as a content married couple, reveals themes of pretense and snobbery. The novel is marked by a dynamic plot and excellent character development. It can be viewed as a socially critical document of the 1930s and 1940s, and it has become a classic and beloved work of 20th-century world literature.