A dazzling novel set in the French Riviera based on the real-life inspirations for F Scott Fitzgeralds Tender is The NightWhen Sara Wiborg and Gerald Murphy met and married they set forth to create a beautiful world together-one that they couldnt find within the confines of society life in New York City They packed up their children and moved to the South of France where they immediately fell in with a group of expats including Hemingway Picasso and Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald On the coast of Antibes they built Villa America a fragrant paradise where they invented summer on the Riviera for a group of bohemian artists and writers who became deeply entwined in each others affairs There in their oasis by the sea the Murphys regaled their guests and their children with flamboyant beach parties fiery debates over the newest ideas and dinners beneath the stars It was for a while a charmed life but these were people who kept secrets and who beneath the sparkling veneer were heartbreakingly human When a tragic accident brings Owen a young American aviator who fought in the Great War to the south of France he finds himself drawn into this flamboyant circle and the Murphys find their world irrevocably unexpectedly transformedA handsome private man Owen intrigues and unsettles the Murphys testing the strength of their union and encouraging a hidden side of Gerald to emerge Suddenly a life in which everything has been considered and exquisitely planned becomes volatile its safeties breached the stakes incalculably high Nothing will remain as it once wasLiza Klaussman expertly evokes the s cultural scene of the so-called Lost Generation Ravishing and affecting and written with infinite tenderness VILLA AMERICA is at once the poignant story of a marriage and of a golden age that could not last.
