THE PERFECT HOUR: The Romance of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ginevra King, His First Love

Perhaps because Fitzgerald himself epitomizes the romantic hero whose end was tragic, the writer's first romance, when he was a Princeton sophomore, with 16-year-old Ginevra King, engenders an interest beyond its brief, and mainly epistolary, flowering. Using excerpts from Ginevra's diary, discovered in 2003, West adds depth to what is known about their relationship while demonstrating how characters inspired by Ginevra turn up again and again in Fitzgerald's fiction, most famously as Daisy in The Great Gatsby . It's generally accepted that meeting Ginevra was Fitzgerald's introduction to the world of privilege, inspiring his oft-used theme of the poor boy rejected by a wealthy young woman. General editor of the Cambridge edition of Fitzgerald's work, West is on solid ground when he says, "from an artistic standpoint, Ginevra King was nearly as important to him as Zelda." West's text makes up about half this slim volume; the appendix contains five letters from Ginevra, entries from her diary and two short stories in which Ginevra is the model for the heroine. While the information here confirms rather than startles, aficionados will be glad to find reliable background material that enriches understanding of Fitzgerald's work. Together with the recently published Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald (Forecasts, Oct. 18), this book helps illuminate the women in Fitzgerald's life. B&w photos. Agent, Georges Borchardt. (On sale Feb. 1)