Summary

Tender Is The Night
Dick and Nicole Diver were a glamorous couple who took a villa in the South of France and surrounded themselves with a circle of friends, mainly Americans. Also staying at the resort were Rosemary Hoyt, a young actress, and her mother. Rosemary got sucked into the circle of the Divers; she fell in love with Dick and was also adopted as a close friend by Nicole. Dick first toyed with the idea of an affair with Rosemary at this point, which he finally acted upon years later.
However, Rosemary sensed something was wrong with the couple, which was brought to light when one of the guests at a party reported having seen something strange in the bathroom. Tommy Barban, another guest, came loyally to the defense of the Divers. The action involved various other friends, including the Norths, where a frequent occurrence was the drunken behavior of Abe North. The story became complicated when Jules Peterson, a black man, was murdered and ended up in Rosemary's bed, in a situation which could destroy Rosemary's career. Dick moved the blood-soaked body to cover up any implied relationship between Rosemary and Peterson.
Once into the book, the history of the Divers arose. Dick Diver was a doctor and psychoanalyst and had taken on a complicated case of neuroses. This was Nicole, whose complicated, incestuous relationship with her father was suggested as the cause of breakdown. As she became infatuated with Dick, Dick was almost driven to marry her as part of the cure. Strong objections were raised: Nicole was an heiress and her sister thought Dick was marrying her for her money. They did marry, and Nicole’s money payed for Dick's partnership in a Swiss clinic and for their extravagant lifestyle. However, Dick gradually developed a drinking problem. He got into fights and trouble with the police in various incidents and was bought out of the clinic by his partner. The opening episode almost marked the crossover point whereby Dick became the weaker partner,...