The Gatsby Gambit takes a fun alternative history/mystery spin on Fitzgerald's classic novel

At the outset of Anderson-Wheeler’s freshly imagined debut, all the principals of The Great Gatsby are alive and well, years after their initial gathering. With their house under renovation, Daisy and Tom Buchanan are bunking at Jay Gatsby’s West Egg mansion on Long Island, along with Nick Carraway and Jordan Baker. Under her boorish husband’s nose, Daisy and Gatsby are still secretly carrying on. Their marriage in tatters, the Wilsons have moved out to New Jersey. Wait, what?

Everyone’s personalities fit the expected mold, but this is clearly an alternate history spinoff to Fitzgerald’s classic. My choice to pick up this novel soon after a Gatsby reread probably wasn’t well-timed. Once I reoriented myself, the plot became an enjoyable “what if” mystery that whipped up new scenarios for familiar characters. 

published by Viking, 2025

In this version, Greta Gatsby, Jay’s younger sibling, returns home to West Egg after graduating from finishing school, hoping for a relaxing summer, only to find her beloved home overcrowded with her wealthy brother’s socialite friends. One of the maids sees a mysterious figure lurking around, and the next morning, a body is found on Gatsby’s boat, an apparent suicide.

Considerable shock ensues, but only the victim’s mother seems upset. The police inspector considers it an open-and-shut case. Greta feels something’s amiss, and her sleuthing proves fertile. She also develops a firmer spine while interviewing servants and seeking clues in the seedy Bowery neighborhood, a place no properly raised young lady should go. 

For readers who adore Fitzgerald’s subtle style, a novel where Daisy explains her feelings may be too much. If you can set aside the comparisons and the occasional off-note Britishisms, you may appreciate this cheeky homage as a fun Jazz Age escape with a pointed look at wealth and class advantages.

~

The Gatsby Gambit was published by Viking in April in the US and Canada; Renegade Books is the UK publisher.  I reviewed it originally for the Historical Novel Society.

I'd reread The Great Gatsby over the summer, after seeing countless articles about the book's centenary. Then I got an email about the "author's edition" being on Kindle sale.  First time I'd read it in full since 9th-grade English class, and I dare say I didn't appreciate the high quality of the writing back then.

The novel's been in the public domain since 2021, and there are several other recent sequels, spinoffs, and reimaginings appearing this year.  The Great Mann by Kyra Davis Lurie (Crown, June) is a Gatsby retelling amidst the Black elite in postwar L.A., and Allyson Reedy's Mrs. Wilson's Affair (Union Square, Oct.) switches the viewpoint to Tom Buchanan's mistress. For more in this vein, Goodreads has a list of retellings, sequels, and prequels, and I just added the three abovementioned books to it.  Finally, I didn't realize this until after I'd finished the book, but "Greta" is a clever anagram.