Bayou Pages | “Pineapple Street” by Jenny Jackson

“It was stunning how casual lying was woven into most married life.”

Forever drawn to debut novels, I’m curious about what a budding author has to say. Is their goal to tell a good story, to write what they assume we want to read, to cloud social commentary in the balm of fiction? As a writer, I think about the authors probably more than your average reader. With Jenny Jackson’s debut novel, she wrestles with the implications of generational wealth in a society much more critical of its accumulation, all while seeking it for the sake of security. As a resident of Brooklyn Heights and the famous Pineapple Street, where the novel is set, Jackson is more concerned with the secrets ensconced inside the mansions and the realities that accompany those who survive on trust funds.

Chip and Tilda Stockton, a rich and powerful family whose money comes from real estate investments, gifted their large Brooklyn mansion to their son Cord and his new wife Sasha, a Rhode Island native, notably not part of the 1% and unaccustomed to its mannerisms and expectations. Intent on making the family home her own, Sasha contends with Tilda’s overbearing commentary about “how things are done” and Cord’s sisters Darley and Georgiana, who call Sasha a gold digger behind her back. To the Stocktons, anyone not on their financial level must be seeking a piece of the pie rather than following her heart. To Sasha, Cord’s family money was just a bonus to marrying a man who doesn’t demand too much of her, though she is learning that marrying into money requires a hazing period of sorts that threatens to rob Sasha of her identity. 

The story is told through two other conflicting viewpoints, including Darley, an Ivy league-educated, stay-at-home Mom, and Georgiana, the youngest of the Stockton siblings who treats her philanthropic job as a hobby and remains blissfully aloof about finances. Having sworn off her inheritance to marry without a prenup, Darley is confronted with a reality absent a safety net when her husband Malcolm’s financial situation is challenged. Meanwhile, Georgiana engages in a secret relationship and when confronted with tragedy, immerses herself in understanding how much of a Stockton she truly is. 

While the ultra-wealthy are often difficult to sympathize with, Jackson manages to humanize this cast of characters, despite their obliviousness to true financial hardship. I enjoyed reading this book, much like I enjoy viewing houses on Zillow that are millions outside of my price range. The secrets that overwhelm the characters are exhausted on the tennis court, as the smack of the tennis ball is the closest many of them come to an honest conversation. Jackson manages to create characters not entirely ignorant of their privilege, yet hesitant to risk its advantages. While this novel will not change your view of the 1%, it serves as a reminder of the problems inherent to family life regardless of the quality of one’s cushions. 

“Competition was their family’s love language.”