Queer Retelling of the Great Gatsby That You Won’t Want to Miss — Matthew’s Book Club
By Lillith Rengstorf
The Great Gatsby… the epitome of the American high school English class, and admittedly one of my favorite classics. The “great American story” written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925, entered the public domain at the start of 2021, and on June 1 of that same year, Nghi Vo published her debut novel The Chosen and The Beautiful. Vo’s novel is a queer retelling of The Great Gatsby, told from the perspective of Jordan Baker, who is a queer Vietnamese woman. For a long time, closeted queer high schools student (myself included) have speculated about Jay Gatsby and Nick’s sexualities, and Vo’s work fulfilled those speculations perfectly.
Vo also dives deeper into the psyche of many characters, and pulls the glittering curtain of the 1920s back to reveal the tarnished heart of prejudice during this time in history. With Jordan Baker as the narrator, the author examines the feelings of displacement and alienation experienced by immigrants during the 1920s. However, my love for this book comes from the direct queerness of almost every character. Jordan and Nick still have a romantic relationship, as they did in the original Gatsby, however Nick and Gatsby have a sexual relationship, even while Gatsby is attempting to win back Daisy from her husband. These open relationships tinged with polyamory perfectly complement the excesses of the upper class 1920s circles that the characters run in. To me, Vo is saying through the characters: “we live in excess, but nothing will ever be enough. Why should I limit myself to one partner, one love, one party, one type of life”.
I especially loved Vo’s retelling of the Great Gatsby because she stayed true to the writing style and the characters. The Chosen and the Beautiful reads like it was written in the 1920s, just like the original. And as a fan of the original novel I appreciated this. I think that even with the addition of new relationships, and the hints of black magic and deals with the devil, I never found myself thinking that Vo was adding too much or straying too far from the original material. Vo also does not change any major plot points, Gatsby still longs for Daisy, and just when the reader (and Gatsby) think that he has Daisy in reach, he still ends up dead in the pool. I know some readers will argue about “staying faithful to the source” but I love retellings and re-imaginings of classic stories, and Vo has done exactly that. I think that queer retellings especially speak to me. Specifically queer retellings of novels that I read while I was questioning my own sexuality in high school, they bring me a very certain type of joy.
Nghi Vo has since written another novel, The Siren Queen, and a series of five novellas that begins with The Empress of Salt and Fortune. I highly encourage anyone and everyone to read The Chosen and The Beautiful. I have not read her other novels or works, but I will definitely be adding them to my reading list.
About the Author
Lilith Rengstorf is from Northwest Indiana, and recently graduated from Valpo High School. She will be attending Butler University for Biology in the fall. Lilith uses she/they pronouns and has been publicly out as bisexual for around two years. In their free time Lilith enjoys reading, sewing, and knitting.
