Tender is the Night

Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a 1934 novel set mainly on the French Riviera during the 1920s. It follows the glamorous but troubled marriage of Dr. Dick Diver and Nicole Diver, a wealthy American heiress struggling with mental illness caused by past trauma. The story explores themes of love, ambition, mental health, and moral decline amid the Jazz Age’s excess. Dick’s promising career and personal life unravel due to alcoholism and dissatisfaction, especially after the arrival of a young actress, Rosemary Hoyt, who disrupts their social circle. Ultimately, the novel depicts the disintegration of their marriage and Dick’s fall from grace while Nicole gains strength and begins a new life. The narrative includes flashbacks to Dick and Nicole’s meeting in a Swiss psychiatric clinic and highlights emotional complexity amid social glamour.