Info
Genre: Historical Romance
Pages: 400
Published: April 26th 2016
Goodreads Rating: 4.24 / 5
My Rating: 5 / 5
Plot Summary
Evelyn Lockhart is a young 1920’s upper class woman, whose passion for medicine is forbidden by her conservative family and social circle.
Faced with the dilemma of marrying her childhood friend and settling as a housewife or abandoning the life she knows to study at medical school, what will she choose?
And if, against all odds, she gets accepted at Columbia University how will she support herself financially?
Character Development
Evelyn Lockhart is a woman ahead of her time. Raised within a conservative family of Victorian beliefs she embraces the 1920’s progressive ideas of female empowerment and is reluctant to fulfill the role of housewife whose only pastimes include needlework and entertaining guests. A tragic event involving a fellow friend makes her take an interest in helping other women and leads her into considering a medical career.
The other characters are equally as complex whether their ideology and interests are against Evelyn’s choice of career (Mr & Mrs Lockhart, her sister Viola and childhood friend Charles Whitman) or fully accept her decision and try to support her (Mrs Whitman, Lil, Leo and Thomas Whitman).
Themes
Set in the early to mid-1920’s Lester introduces us to the Roaring Twenties lifestyle of New York City where jazz and illegal gin are ”the cat’s pajamas” to every party.
Conservative views of the woman’s position in society (housewife & mother) collide with the modern ones which are all about women joining the labor market even in men-dominated jobs as well as adopting a more ”liberating” approach to their apperance and behaviour.
Misogyny is shown extensively through Evelyn’s interactions with her medical professors and co-students who think that because of her gender she is unable to become successful in the field despite her outstanding performance.
My Thoughts
A Kiss From Mr Fitzgerald is a romance novel with nostalgic 1920’s aesthetic and a remarkable heroine who isn’t afraid to face chalenges in order to achieve her dreams.
Make the reading experience more enjoyable by listening to the songs featured in the story which are collected by the author in a music playlist at the end of the book.
