LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
Delivering a deliciously juicy peek into the world of a New York WASP family with an obscene stash of old money, Jenny Jackson’s Pineapple Street debut is an un-put-down-able joy. Unpicking class, money, holding onto what you’ve got, and desiring something different with incisive wit and warmth, it’s smart, entertaining and headily escapist.
Home to the wealthy, influential Stockton family, Pineapple Street in Brooklyn Heights is one of the fanciest addresses in New York. At the head of family sit Tilda and Chip, she descended from political royalty, and he from a long line of property investors. They’re the kind of folk who frequent expensive tennis clubs, create elaborate wedding-worthy “tablescapes” for every meal, and think nothing of buying multi-million-dollar houses at charity auctions.
The Stocktons are also the kind of folk who gift their son Cord their sprawling family home, even though he married outside their class. It’s very clear his wife Sasha is from another world, a woman who comes to feel like she’s “stuck in a lose-lose situation, a member of a family in which she had no voice”.
Meanwhile, Tilda and Chip’s eldest daughter Darley gave up her inheritance when she married a wealthy banker and didn’t insist on him signing a pre-nup. Naturally, the Stocktons couldn’t risk him laying claim to their family money. Then there’s the youngest, Georgiana, a poor little rich girl who works for a non-profit and tumultuously comes to the realisation that “it was the money that had made her so horrible. It had made her coddled and spoiled and ruined, and she had no idea what to do about it” after suffering a tragic loss.
Shot-through with bickering and conflict, cover-ups and showdowns, astounding self-assurance and debilitating self-doubt, Pineapple Street is bitingly observed, with poignant moments of love and loyalty dappling a ripping yarn that unpacks what makes the super-rich tick.
Joanne Owen
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Pineapple Street Synopsis
Old money. New family . . .
Pineapple Street in Brooklyn Heights is one of New York City's most desirable residences, and home to the glamorous and well-connected Stockton family . . .
Darley, the eldest daughter, has never had to worry about money. She followed her heart, trading her job and her inheritance for motherhood - but ended up sacrificing more of herself than she ever intended.
Sasha is marrying into the wealthy Stockton family, who are worlds apart from her own. She feels like the outsider, trying to navigate their impenetrable traditions and please her new mother-in-law - plus her hesitancy to sign a pre-nup has everyone questioning her true intentions.
Georgiana, the youngest, is falling in love with someone she can't (and really shouldn't) have - and is forced to confront the kind of person she wants to be.
Witty, escapist and full of heart, with an unmissable cast of loveable - if flawed - characters, Pineapple Street is a beautifully observed novel about the complexities of family dynamics, the miles between the haves and the have-notes, and the all-consuming insanity of first love - while also asking the age-old question, can money really buy you happiness?
About This Edition
ISBN: |
9781529156157 |
Publication date: |
15th February 2024 |
Author: |
Jenny Jackson |
Publisher: |
Penguin Books an imprint of Cornerstone |
Format: |
Paperback |
Pagination: |
304 pages |
Primary Genre |
Literary Fiction
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Other Genres: |
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Recommendations: |
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Press Reviews
Jenny Jackson Press Reviews
A lovely, absorbing, acutely observed novel about class, money and love. These are the themes of Henry James and Jane Austen, but they are observed with a fresh eye and a contemporary voice. -- Nick Hornby
Pineapple Street is a portrait at once searing, hilarious and poignant of a NY family straight-jacketed by their own wealth -- Miranda Cowley
Heller I loved PINEAPPLE STREET. The characters are complex and engaging and their stories bring a particular slice of New York magically alive. So wise, emotionally honest, and such fun -- Helen Fielding
I stayed up until five in the morning devouring PINEAPPLE STREET. Nothing beats a story told this well and rendered with such lovingly comic precision . . . Truly the smartest and most deliciously fun novel I've read in ages -- Kevin Kwan
Jenny Jackson turns this story of super-rich people living frustrated lives in Brooklyn into a compelling and thoughtful look at what it means to have very little agency in your own life. While it's hard to feel too much sympathy for the main characters, it's an excellent read - Stylist
Jenny Jackson delivers SUCH a delicious treat with her debut novel, PINEAPPLE STREET. It delights across the board - character (the wealthy, quirky Stockton family), setting (an insider's look at Brooklyn) and plot (a searingly honest exploration of class and privilege.) With shifting points of view and smart, laugh-out-loud observations on every single page, PINEAPPLE STREET is an instant classic -- Elin Hilderbrand
Filled with warmth and light. I was moved, engaged, inspired and charmed -- Daisy Buchanan
Pineapple Street is that rarest of gifts-a novel you don't want to put down for anything. Transporting and laugh-out-loud funny, this intergenerational story is a perfect tale for our times -- J. Courtney Sullivan, New York Times bestselling author of FRIENDS AND STRANGERS
In this vibrant and hilarious debut, Jenny Jackson has taken a familiar tale-siblings, family money, competing interests-and given it fresh life. What binds the book together so wonderfully is Jackson's keen understanding of the beauty and difficulty of belonging, of how our desires can clash with our inherited narrative and what happens to the people we love when we need to rewrite the story. Pineapple Street is riveting, timely, hugely entertaining and brimming with truth -- Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, New York Times bestselling author of THE NEST and GOOD COMPANY
Full of witty and caustic observations about a privileged class of New Yorkers, PINEAPPLE STREET is a sharp and juicy satire -- Nita Prose, #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE MAID
Killer debut about class, love and money - Grazia
It's the novel Jane Austen would have written . . . if Jane Austen lived in Brooklyn Heights in the 21st century - New York Times