Now they’re all at NYC nightclubs and speakeasies as well as fabulous Long Island estates. Daisy Fay has, in and out, been a part of Jordan’s life for years. “The Chosen and the Beautiful” who were “dripping with money and magic” (Jordan’s description of the socialites with whom she was raised and with whom she runs wild) have sorta of accepted Jordan but as she gets older, she finds that some doors aren’t as open to her as they once were while others are closed altogether. Though it’s never made clear (and I wish it had been), over the course of the book, there were vague hints that this was all more havey cavey than totally altruistic as Jordan had been brought up to believe. Here the book is told from the POV of Jordan Baker, a queer, adopted Vietnamese orphan who was brought back from “Tonkin” as a small child by the missionary daughter of the wealthy Baker family of Louisville.

That is when I saw how carefully and skillfully bits of dialog and action had been snipped out of it and used as the basis of this Jordan and this reimagined world.

Still based on my love for “The Singing Hills Cycle” novellas, I was psyched to give it a try.Īfter a while, I thought I ought to skim through “Gatsby” to read the scenes with the original “Jordan” in them. When I saw this arc on offer with your name attached, I jumped at the description of it before realizing that it would be a retelling of the story. Frankly, the plot and characters never interested me. She just has to learn how.įirst let me confess that I’ve never read “The Great Gatsby” and have only managed to force myself to watch bits and pieces of the 1974 movie. In all paper is fire, and Jordan can burn the cut paper heart out of a man.

She’s also queer and Asian, a Vietnamese adoptee treated as an exotic attraction by her peers, while the most important doors remain closed to her.īut the world is full of wonders: infernal pacts and dazzling illusions, lost ghosts and elemental mysteries. Jordan Baker grows up in the most rarefied circles of 1920s American society-she has money, education, a killer golf handicap, and invitations to some of the most exclusive parties of the Jazz Age. Jayne B- Reviews / Book Reviews 1920s / abortion / bisexual / class differences / Dark Fantasy / Historical / horror / immigrant / Jazz Age / LGBTQIAP+ / literary adaptation / New York City / POC / POC author / racism / social privilege 4 Comments JREVIEW: The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo

The chosen beautiful