Pineapple Street

Gabi's Review

Fancy a read about the very insular wealthy entitled elites of New York? Not unless its really special, so why is this book getting so much attention? Trends in judgment towards the polarization of equality could make for some hilarity or loathing, a lovable rogue is always good. Jenny Jackson's characters are complex enough to keep the reader engaged and it is quite funny at times. 

The Stocktons are an old money family of real estate fortune and Jackson is empathizing and mocking of each of them in turn. You find yourself loathing then liking them, judging them harshly then forgiving their tone-deafness and multitude of foibles. Ultimately for me, the characters were uninteresting with tiny concerns that left me wondering at the potential that could have been extracted in an environment of such privilege and power.

Publishers Reviews

THE MUST-READ DEBUT OF 2023

'A lovely, absorbing, acutely observed novel about class, money and love' NICK HORNBY

'A portrait at once searing, hilarious and poignant of a New York Family straight-jacketed by their own wealth' MIRANDA COWLEY HELLER, author of THE PAPER PALACE

This unputdownable debut follows three women in an old Brooklyn Heights clan- one who was born with money, one who married into it, and one who wants to give it all away.

Darley, the eldest daughter in the well-connected, carefully-guarded Stockton family, has never had to worry about money. Darley followed her heart, trading her job and her inheritance for motherhood, sacrificing more of herself than she ever intended. Sasha, Darley's new sister-in-law, has come from more humble origins, and her hesitancy about signing a pre-nup has everyone worried about her intentions. And Georgiana, the baby of the family, has fallen in love with someone she can't (and really shouldn't) have, and must confront the kind of person she wants to be.

Rife with the indulgent pleasures of life among New York's one per centers - glittering parties, weekend homes and hungover brunches - Pineapple Street is a scintillating, escapist novel that sparkles with wit and wry humour. Full of recognisable, loveable if fallible characters (and a few appalling ones!), it's about the peculiar unknowability of someone else's family, the miles between the haves and have-nots and everything in between.