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Book Review: Claire Anderson-Wheeler pays homage to Fitzgerald with mystery 'The Gatsby Gambit'

Book Review: Claire Anderson-Wheeler pays homage to Fitzgerald with mystery 'The Gatsby Gambit'

It takes more than a little verve to write a story based on the iconic characters created by F. Scott Fitzgerald in perhaps the 20th century's most famous American novel, but Claire Anderson-Wheeler has done just that with 'The Gatsby Gambit.' And, say, old sport, it's delightful.
Fans of 'The Great Gatsby' — Penguin Classics is publishing a 100th anniversary edition in conjunction with Anderson-Wheeler's new work — will delight in seeing their old friends again. Jay Gatsby is here, of course, but also Nick Carraway, Tom and Daisy Buchanan, and Jordan Baker. They are joined by Anderson-Wheeler's invention, Jay's sister Greta, back from finishing school and spending the summer at the mansion in West Egg. She's the real star of the story, which after re-introducing readers to Fitzgerald's cast, quickly takes a tragic turn.
Saying more about the tragedy would spoil the reading experience, but suffice it to say that it fits perfectly with the story Anderson-Wheeler wants to tell — about a young woman with extraordinary means who is awakening to the inequities of the 1920s America she inhabits.
She moves easily between the wealthy partygoers at her brother's famous lawn parties and the servants who meet their every need, which puts her in perfect position to become a youthful version of Miss Marple, following every lead to solve the book's central mystery.
Anderson-Wheeler writes in a voice that is fun to read, even as she stays true to the character traits Fitzgerald created a century ago. Here's a moment in Greta's head: 'It was fortuitous, Greta reflected, that the future of women's liberation did not depend solely on Daisy Buchanan.' Or Jordan, as she pushed 'the duck confit morosely around her plate: Murder investigations aren't half so much fun as I thought they'd be.'
Fitzgerald scholars may find it all frivolous — nothing but fan fiction that effectively negates the plot of the original — but readers who either don't care about that or who just want to spend more time with these characters will be rewarded.
In the end, it's an homage, right down to the green handkerchief Nick waves as his train departs for Manhattan at novel's end: '(Greta) realized then what it reminded her of: the Buchanans' green beacon across the sound… It had always looked so magical, so beautiful, the otherworldly flicker of some ever-receding dream.'

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After 'The Brady Bunch' house sold to a megafan for $3.2 million, she created a sweepstakes to let fans win tours inside— take a look.
After 'The Brady Bunch' house sold to a megafan for $3.2 million, she created a sweepstakes to let fans win tours inside— take a look.

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

After 'The Brady Bunch' house sold to a megafan for $3.2 million, she created a sweepstakes to let fans win tours inside— take a look.

Tina Trahan bought the "The Brady Bunch" house, which appears in the opening credits, from HGTV. The 1959 house in LA's Studio City was renovated in 2019 so its interiors now match the show's sets. In 2025, Trahan put on a sweepstakes to allow fans to tour the property. Who doesn't want to live in a classic American sitcom? The house featured in "The Brady Bunch" hit the market in May 2023 for a cool $5.5 million — and it sold in September of the same year for $3.2 million. HGTV, which purchased the home for $3.5 million in 2018, had to settle for a figure that was $2.3 million less than its initial listing and about 9% less than what it originally paid for the home, The Wall Street Journal reported. Built in 1959, the two-story home in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles measures 5,140 square feet and is the embodiment of midcentury modern style. It was rebuilt to replicate the set of the TV show, the listing said. The buyer, Tina Trahan, told the Journal she was a fan of the show but didn't plan to live in the house — she said she wanted to use it for fundraising and charity events. Then, in partnership with the nonprofit No Kid Hungry, Trahan launched The Brady Experience, a sweepstakes in which participants can donate money for the chance to tour the house and eat brunch with a members of the original show's cast. Dallas, Georgia, resident Sue Myers grew up watching the Brady Bunch, and even passed that tradition on to her son. "I was the huge 'Brady' fan — I'm obviously a kid of the seventies and grew up during that time, and the Brady Bunch was on after school every day," Myers told Business Insider. "What's fun is that when becoming a parent, I've got a 24-year-old son, and so I raised him on it as well." Myers heard about the sweepstakes from a friend who knew she was a big fan, and she ended up winning an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles to check out the home with her son. She went on a tour led by cast members Christopher Knight and Barry Williams, and had a brunch at the home. The renovation, which was highlighted on the TV series "A Very Brady Renovation," was flawless according to Myers. "It was so exact," she said. "It was one of those things where it was a weird feeling because when we came in, it was amazing to be there and then to see something that was so familiar to you, but in a place you've never been." Trahan told the Journal in 2023 that the house was "the worst investment ever," but has since clarified those comments, telling People that she views the home as a piece of art. "When I was buying it, I wasn't thinking, 'Oh, it was a great investment,'" Trahan told People in 2023. "When I buy art, it's because I love the art. It's not because, 'Oh, I'm going to make money on this.' If you're going to make money in art, you have to sell it. I buy art, and then I don't sell it." 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Brandon Scott Jones on CBS' ‘Ghosts': ‘I enjoy playing characters that are desperate'
Brandon Scott Jones on CBS' ‘Ghosts': ‘I enjoy playing characters that are desperate'

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Brandon Scott Jones on CBS' ‘Ghosts': ‘I enjoy playing characters that are desperate'

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No, Sylvester Stallone isn't dead: Online confusion follows music legend Sly Stone's passing
No, Sylvester Stallone isn't dead: Online confusion follows music legend Sly Stone's passing

San Francisco Chronicle​

time3 hours ago

  • San Francisco Chronicle​

No, Sylvester Stallone isn't dead: Online confusion follows music legend Sly Stone's passing

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