Beautiful Little Fools

The Great Gatsby women take centre stage in this powerful reimagining of a timeless classic.

On a sultry August day in 1922, Jay Gatsby is shot dead in his West Egg swimming pool. To the police, it appears to be an open-and-shut case of murder/suicide when the body of George Wilson, a local mechanic, is found in the woods nearby. Then a diamond hairpin is discovered in the bushes by the pool, and three women fall under suspicion. Each holds a key that can unlock the truth to the mysterious life and death of this enigmatic millionaire.

Daisy Buchanan once thought she might marry Gatsby – before her family was torn apart by an unspeakable tragedy that sent her into the arms of the philandering Tom Buchanan. Jordan Baker, Daisy’s best friend, guards a secret that derailed her promising golf career and threatens to ruin her friendship with Daisy as well. Catherine McCoy, a suffragette, fights for women’s freedom and independence, and especially for her sister, Myrtle Wilson, who’s trapped in a terrible marriage.

Their stories unfold in the years leading up to that fateful summer of 1922, when all three of their lives are on the brink of unravelling. Each woman is pulled deeper into Jay Gatsby’s romantic obsession, with devastating consequences for all of them.

‘This powerful exploration of the women of The Great Gatsby will forever change the way you see the American classic – and perhaps, too, the role of women in all the stories we take for granted.’ Kristin Harmel, bestselling author of The Forest of Vanishing Star

‘Cantor succeeds brilliantly with this audacious revisionist murder mystery ... An admirably convincing act of literary skullduggery.’ Publishers Weekly (starred review)