One hundred years later, “The Great Gatsby” remains a triumph of modernist literature — and a rite of passage for high school students still puzzling over what, exactly, the green light means. Now, two Chattanooga brothers have given the classic novel a bold, emotional second look — just in time for the centennial.
Identical twins Shawn and Stephen Hays spent five years co-writing “What Light Was,” a hybrid historical novel inspired by the lives of authors Mary Shelly and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The book launches as The Read House rolls out its Gatsby 100 experience, a luxury stay package that invites guests to toast the Jazz Age in style.
“It’s not just about Gatsby the character,” Stephen Hays says. “It’s about Fitzgerald the writer — how raw and exposed he was while creating it. He wasn’t writing from a place of ease. He was writing from the edge, hoping it mattered.”
“As we dug deeper into Fitzgerald’s life — his struggles, ambitions and his place in the literary tradition — we saw how much more there was to explore beyond the novel itself,” Stephen says. “In his letters and journals, [Fitzgerald] is brutally honest about the pressures of being an artist, a husband, a father and an expatriate, all while depending on his art to sustain his life.”
The Hays brothers grew up in Chattanooga, swapping stories and editing each other’s writing. Stephen co-founded one of Chattanooga’s first food-delivery startups, Dinner Delivered, in 2010, and Shawn works as a senior firefighter for the city. Both spent decades honing their craft on nights and weekends.