Delicious combination of confused identities, personal dramas and moral dilemmas in a contemporary chiller from one of our most outstanding novelists. For years, Isobel Latimer has composed serious novels for serious people, but to dwindling acclaim and ever-more dwindling gain. Now her husband is ill and she must carry their financial burden alone, and in secret. But if the public don't want careful moral fables any longer, why not provide an outrageous tale of sex and satanism, and an author to match? The incomparable, uncontrollable Zelda de Vere is born. What began with the best of intentions snowballs into a disorienting blur of passion, gender-bending, loss of innocence, to betrayal and beyond. Isobel Latimer might feel she's on the brink of losing everything, but what would Zelda do?
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Masquerading as a trashy novelist may solve English writer Isobel Latimer's financial problems, but it also plunges her into a full-fledged identity crisis in Gregory's flighty, overplotted novel. Isobel needs money to support her ailing husband, Philip, and his newfound interest in pool building, so when her agent, Troy Cartwright, informs her that her literary novels are earning less and less, she tells him, "If they won't pay me to write good books, then I'll just have to write bad." She and Troy invent the persona of Zelda Vere, a heavily made-up, well-dressed blonde bombshell, the opposite of 52-year-old country matron Isobel. Zelda's "survivor fiction," The Devil's Disciple, is a major hit that earns Isobel all the money she could ever need, but she finds herself increasingly caught between superego and id, between an unfulfilling loyal marriage and sexual experimentation with Troy. When Isobel sets off on her book tour with Troy, Gregory's plot takes an exotic and erotic turn, depicting a world of cross-dressing, cocaine and champagne. Returning to her home in Kent, Isobel finds Philip miraculously recovered and expending all his energy on the construction of an expensive new pool. Philip has also decided to invest (with Isobel's money) in the handsome pool man's business. Backstabbers reveal themselves, to no one's surprise, and Isobel's deliberationsAshould she stay or should she go?Aare prolonged until an abrupt, bewildering denouement puts a stop to the runaway narrative. Gregory, a popular writer of historical fiction (Earthly Joys, etc.), knows whereof she speaks when she describes television interviews and book deals, though the over-the-top fantasy she spins from the details may test readers' patience. (Jan. 16)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Booklist
Gregory's novel is a double threat: one gripping story of lust and desperation nestled within another gripping story of lust and desperation. Isobel Latimer--one of England's literati--is strapped for cash. Unable to admit to her sick husband that she has spent everything they have in her attempt to find a cure for his mystery illness, Isobel is tempted by her agent, Troy, into writing a trashy popular novel under the assumed name of Zelda Vere. Zelda's first novel is a smashing success, but by the time the royalties come through, her husband has spent them. In the meantime, Isobel has been spending more and more time in the company of Troy, who helps her become Zelda for her fans. When Isobel confesses her love for Troy (who prefers men), everything falls apart, and she soon finds herself entangled in a complex web of lies and half-truths. A wild emotional ride with a shocking conclusion, Gregory's deftly written tale offers a great deal of insight into the human soul, and a wicked sense of poetic justice. Bonnie Johnston
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Could Have Been Better,
By A Customer
This review is from: Zelda's Cut (Hardcover)
I kept wanting this book to improve upon itself. It has an interesting premise and a very catchy ending, but there are too many problems in the writing for me to give it a strong recommendation. The author is trying to make parallels between the life of her protagonist, Isabel Latimer, and Isabel's writing (she specializes in high-toned fiction about moral choices). Now, of course, Isabel has a moral choice to make. What will she do?Unfortunately, she drags out the story and the point of view from which the story is told isn't consistant. The writing ranges from very good to downright trashy. When the story goes into somewhat deviant sex scenes it just gets silly. There are also holes in the story that a truck could be driven through (a man puts on woman's clothes and makeup in ten minutes, and fools an entire television studio. Yeah, right). It was interesting enough to keep me reading, but was a lost opportunity for what could have been a boffo story.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A novel with an intriguing plot and a spilt personality,
By
This review is from: Zelda's Cut (Hardcover)
The author of a large body of truly outstanding historical fiction, Philippa Gregory has also written several novels which are set in the modern day. The tone of these books vary a great deal. On one end of the spectrum, there are her cheery feminist fairy tales, Mrs. Hartley and the Growth Centre and Perfectly Correct - on the other, the dark domestic realism of her novel The Little House. Sitting rather uneasily between these two extremes sits Gregory's new novel, Zelda's Cut. Zelda's Cut starts promisingly, with an examination of the strains and stresses put on a loving marriage by the ravages of illness. Isobel Latimer deeply loves her ailing husband, Philip. But the pain he suffers daily has changed him so completely - from the light-footed, light-hearted man that she knew and loved and married into a man who is bitter, reproachful, and sad - that some days she finds it hard not to give into despair. This section of the novel is truly heart-breaking - a realistic, no-holds-barred look at the toll that chronic illness takes on both the patient, and the loved ones who care for them. And then - the mood changes; turns surreal. Within a few chapters, a slow, sad realistic story about the pressures put on people when one of their loved ones is in pain and facing the possibility of death turns into a tale of risk, deception, cross-dressing, literary impersonation, and sudden switches of identity. Zelda's Cut is, like all of Gregory's books, a real page-turner - filled with interesting characters, intriguing situations, and a (at least for me!) truly surprising ending. But unlike the finest of her previous works - the quiet, philosophical Earthly Joys, and the demented, impassioned Wideacre, Zelda's Cut cannot seem to decide what kind of book it wants to be. Is it a serious examination of what a marriage is like after love and hope are gone, or is it a more light-hearted piece about the redeeming virtues of adultery and a new hairstyle? Even after having read this interesting but uneven book, I'm not entirely sure.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gregory is great, whether Elizabethan or not!,
By
This review is from: Zelda's Cut (Hardcover)
This was the first book of Philippa Gregory's that I read that was not set during Elizabethan times... I have loved her books the Other Bolyen Girl and the Queen's Fool, despite some anachronisms, found them impossible to put down and utterly engaging.
well, Zelda's Cut is set in the 21st century, but is no less engaging. Isobel Latimer, the 52-year old frumpy writer of literary books, is a butterfly waiting to emerge, and when she writes a pulp novel for money and takes on the personality of Zelda Vere there's a delightful Cinderella story. Her hypochondriac, whiny husband Philip and the inflated pool he spends all her money on is a great counter-balance. Two things strain plausibility a little, and unfortunately, they are central to the plot. We're asked to believe that gorgeous, extravagant Zelda is such a type that anyone in the right clothes can play her, so that when Zelda's bisexual agent Troy puts on the wig and clothing, nobody notices that it's a different person. I tend to think people *would* notice if the person they were talking to suddenly grew four inches, their voice got deeper, etc. Unfortunately this is a crucial plot point, and I just didn't buy it. It's also crucially important that Isobel doesn't even know the numbers to her Swiss bank account, and I couldn't quite believe that either. Because of these two things, you can see the big "twist" coming from miles away, so I enjoyed the second half of the book much less and even flipped to the end. I did read it all anyway, but without so much the element of surprise. That said, Isobel is a terrific, enjoyable, likable character, one you can definitely relate to, and Gregory knows how to spin a good yarn!
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