Guest review by: Becki Bayley
On our last day we prowled the shops, and I bought a small guitar for Baoth, an embroidered shawl for Honoria, and a toy bull for Patrick. After dinner, there was a fireworks display, and the locals gathered at city hall to sing “Pobre de Mi” by candlelight as all the men formally removed their red kerchiefs until the following year. The crowd formed circles to dance the traditional sardana and we followed along as best we could.
Suddenly, the little brass band broke into the “Savoy Hop” and the crowd began chanting “Dansa Charleston! Dansa Charleston!” Gerald and I were confused until we saw the look on Ernest’s face: knowing we’d learned this newest dance craze, he’d tipped off the band. Gerald took my hand and let me to the center of the crowd, where we giddily swung our arms and kicked our feet in time to the beat. I caught his eye and we both grinned. After a week of trying so hard to fit into Ernest’s world, it felt good to be ourselves.
Sara and Gerald Murphy led unique lives through such interesting times—international homes and travel, two world wars, evolving art and culture, a depression—and the author presented Sara’s imagined voice to narrate it all.
Official synopsis:
Against the sizzling Jazz Age backdrop of 1920s Paris and Antibes, Sara's innate style and gift for friendship attract the bohemian elite of the new century-including Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Picasso, and Dorothy Parker. But by the 1930s, her fortune is lost and tragedy strikes-not once, but twice. Sara's strength and resilience allow her to find a new equilibrium over time, long after the parties have ended. A heartbreaking story of love and loss, The Ashtrays Are Full and the Glasses Are Empty follows Sara through her very modern life to reveal how tragedy can be healed by faith, unconditional love, and a creative mind.
Sara Wilborg married a bit later in life than was usual in the early 1900s. She waited until she found someone she truly wanted to spend the rest of her life with, and by all appearances, her marriage with Gerald Murphy was worth the wait. The retelling of their privileged and entertaining life shared the good and the bad, along with Sara’s potential emotional reflections on it all.
Living their lives with her family’s money and opportunities, the Murphys were close friends with well known artists like the Picassos, the Hemingways, the MacLeishes, and the Fitzgeralds. While it sounds like lots of fun and glitter, Sara’s perspective also included the darker parts of even the happy parts of their life.
No life is without tragedy, and the Murphys had more than their share. The author’s ideas of Sara’s possible reflections on the losses in their lives and possible lessons to learn were especially touching. Who hasn’t wondered if a different choice on something seemingly unrelated could have led to a different outcome?
The book ran the full range of emotions - the Murphys had documented experiences of joy, fun, and unquestionably happy events, as well as losses no one ever wants to bear. Overall, the story earned 4 out of 5 stars. While it was fiction, it could be recommended to those who like stories from the early 1900s (though it spanned into the 1970s), memoirs, and womens’ stories.
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Becki Bayley is a wife, mother, and stereotypical Gen-Xer. Read more of her reviews and other life adventures on her blog, SweetlyBSquared.com.
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