BOOK REVIEW: Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson
Take a trip to Brooklyn Heights where old money and family drama prevail.
I enjoy reading about family and the drama that families engage in behind closed doors, and Pineapple Street was a perfect combination of drama and extravagance. After I finished the book, I looked at some reviews, which I do sometimes, just to see what others thought of it while I process my own thoughts. I read one that said the reader didn’t like this book because “nothing happened.” I will always respect people’s personal opinions on books as long as they are not rude to the author, but I found this to be an interesting thought.
If you are looking for action/adventure or serial killers or even ghosts or zombies, you will definitely not find them on Pineapple Street. What will you find on Pineapple Street you may ask? You will find a slightly dysfunctional family that ebbs and flows through life under the protection and influence of having generational wealth on their side. However, money doesn’t solve all problems, can’t cure grief, and hasn’t yet countered ignorance.
The plot is driven by the characters, which again could be why some don’t feel like anything happened, but I’m going to argue that there are some very poignant and powerful moments that occur in these characters’ lives. The Stockton family comes from old money and consists of aging parents, Tilda (who is obsessed with tennis and probably should have been an interior designer or event planner in a middle class life) and her husband Chip (who, you know, runs a New York empire like all rich people in books do). The majority of the focus revolves around their three adult children, Cord, Darley and Georgiana.
There were things you could do with family that you just couldn’t do with friends: You could let them see you wearing the same outfit three days in a row. You could invite them over for lunch and then mostly ignore them as you finally got off hold with the internet provider. You could have an entire conversation while wearing Crest Whitestrips.
Multiple points of view help to jump between Darley and Georgiana, but instead of Cord, it is his new wife Sasha who gets her own chapters. This was a very important element in the global perspective of the book. Why, you ask? Well, because Sasha doesn’t come from the privilege and money that Cord’s family does. There are things she doesn't understand when it comes to behaviors and priorities of the others, and she has to contend with the idea that she is a “Gold Digger” and judged by her sisters-in-law while she fights to be accepted. Cord , of course, is completely oblivious to the actions of his family, because wealth is his life and his family has always been this way.
While we get to follow Sasha’s struggles to fit in and be accepted, we also follow Darley who has also married someone not of old money. There are aspects of this relationship that are different from that of Sasha and Cord, and I really enjoyed watching the similarities, differences and how their experiences parallel. Darley and her husband, Malcolm, have the only children in the group and their two kids are totally the comic relief. Kids don’t understand society’s class systems, expectations and what it means to be privileged when they are young. They are simply spunky, sassy, no-filtered kids obsessed with death, and I loved their authenticity. When they got kicked out of the pool, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
As all the characters are dealing with marital and family relationship struggles, it is Georgiana that suffers the most throughout the story. As the youngest of the three Stockton children and the one still single, she is the one who makes some not great decisions, but also suffers the most. All the characters’ lives intertwine with each other to different degrees and at different levels. When Georgiana suffers a traumatic loss, her inability to cope and a family that isn’t very in tune to emotions struggle to know what is going on. It is a powerful element to the story. So yes, stuff happens in this book, but it is how the characters individually react to the most mundane to the traumatic that propel it forward.
There is nothing quite like family, and clearly money doesn’t buy happiness. Those thematic notions are clear throughout. However, the importance of “keeping up appearances” and the “wealthy should marry the wealthy” are ideals that are so ingrained in the family that it’s hard to change that mindset.
There is also plenty of tennis which fits with the notion that “competition was their family love language.”
Where does this land on my bookshelf?
I’d place it on the middle shelf…but at the top of it. I really liked this book and reading about families always intrigues me. With this one, there is a societal element as well in how people are perceived and perceive others when it comes to wealth. Social status is important and “family infiltration” is a real thing. This is a perfect summer read, even though there are a few heartbreaking moments, but that’s life, right? It’s not all unicorns and rainbows - no matter how much money you have. If you haven’t read it yet, definitely add it to your TBR!
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