Last Thursday night on February 16, 2015, at the Humanitas Bookstore near the Cișmigiu Gardens in Bucharest, Therese Anne Fowler’s 2013 best-selling book Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald was launched in its Romanian version, signed by Fulbright alumna Anca Peiu and published by the Humanitas Fiction Publishing House, as part of the successful collection “Raftul Denisei” (“Denisa’s Shelf”), coordinated by the poet Denisa Comănescu, general manager of the Humanitas Fiction Publishing House.  

As a volume of fiction inspired by literary biography, Z gives us quite a surprising refreshing view of Zelda Fitzgerald. For those readers who had got used to Zelda’s demonic image – as outlined mainly under Ernest Hemingway’s influence – the portrait achieved by Therese Anne Fowler may come as quite a shock. Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald deserved each other, as equally strong personalities, gifted, passionate and doomed. The book is much more than a compelling love-story, a page-turner. It is a postmodern palimpsest, recreating literary memory for the sake of fiction. As one of the best contemporary American writers, Therese Anne Fowler has invested in it much more than her artistic talent: a thorough documentation on the Jazz Age and its stars.

As a Fulbright alumna, I felt honored to participate in this event, together with: Ioana Bâldea-Constantinescu, a successful young writer and journalist, Sandra Ecobescu, a distinguished philologist, representing the Calea Victoriei Foundation, and Angelo Mitchievici, an authoritative literary critic of today. The bookstore hosted a most inspiring audience, formed mainly by today’s and yesterday’s students. 

Translating this book by Therese Anne Fowler has been my privilege, for which I am grateful.

(Text by Anca Peiu)