Pineapple Street

A GMA Book Club Pick (A Novel)

By: Jenny Jackson

Narrated by: Marin Ireland

Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

A New York Times bestseller | A Good Morning America Book Club Pick

Chosen as a best book of the year by The New York Times | Time | NPR | USA Today | Elle | Harper’s Bazaar | Town & Country | Vogue | BBC | POPSUGAR | Goodreads | theSkimm

“The season’s first beach read, a delicious romp of a debut featuring family crises galore.”— The New York Times

“A delicious new Gilded Age family drama… a guilty pleasure that also feels like a sociological text.” —Vogue

A deliciously funny, sharply observed debut of family, love, and class, this zeitgeisty novel follows three women in one wealthy Brooklyn clan

Darley, the eldest daughter in the well-connected old money Stockton family, followed her heart, trading her job and her inheritance for motherhood but giving up far too much in the process; Sasha, a middle-class New England girl, has married into the Brooklyn Heights family, and finds herself cast as the arriviste outsider; and Georgiana, the baby of the family, has fallen in love with someone she can’t have, and must decide what kind of person she wants to be.

Rife with the indulgent pleasures of life among New York’s one-percenters, Pineapple Street is a smart, escapist novel that sparkles with wit. Full of recognizable, loveable—if fallible—characters, it’s about the peculiar unknowability of someone else’s family, the miles between the haves and have-nots, and the insanity of first love—all wrapped in a story that is a sheer delight.

©2023 Jenny Jackson (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“A delicious new Gilded Age family drama—almost a satire—set in the leafy enclaves of Brooklyn Heights....A lighthearted book that captures a slice of New York society, a guilty pleasure that also feels like a sociological text, punctuated with very particular references to restaurants, preschools, nightclubs, and other pillars of urban life in 2023.” —Vogue

“Those who want to eat the rich may salivate while reading Pineapple Street...This breezy read is the bookish equivalent of an effervescent Netflix dramedy. Expect to be entertained.” –The Wall Street Journal

“A smart comedy of manners… The moment when a good writer transforms an everyday detail about cheese cubes into an observation about the casual cruelties of class hierarchy — remains as jolting as getting or throwing a pie in the face. Here’s to being the thrower!” —Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air

Good but a little preachy

I didn’t really like these characters or feel much for them. I kept waiting for something to happen. A day in the life if the Uber rich just wasn’t enough.

Nouveau gilded age

I enjoyed this book. Not sure why the negative reviews. It was exactly what I expected it to be a fun read.

Enjoyable

Pineapple Street was a different genre from my normal books however it kept me interested and I enjoyed it.

I couldn’t finish it

Started off well, I thought I’d like it but as it progressed I lost interest in the story and characters.

Entertaining

Thoroughly entertaining parody of today’s elite. Enjoyable story, although I agree
with some of the review that say it all was wrapped up a little too easily.

Love to hate some of these characters

Marin Ireland is one of my favorite narrators, and she doesn’t disappoint here. The story is as expected, with convincing depictions of “one percenters” that I loved to hate. Enjoyable

I love this type of story. Imperfect people! (Us all, in other words!)

A family saga, people struggling to make a family work, understand each other, navigate life. This is a startlingly accurate portrait of upper-class Americans. The characters were great and relationships felt realistic. A nice diversion from all the WWII glamorizing of people we find in the HF genre. A great summer listen! Narrator was wonderful. Bravo JJ on a great debut!

Richly rich cry babies realize they need to act more human

Richy rich cry babies realize they need to act more human. Yawn. I prefer to read something more relevant.

Boring characters

Rich, bored, and no unique characters in this story. The author has a nice pace and is pleasant to read. Just okay.

The Great American Novel it is not…

A pretty shallow story led by shallow characters but well-written enough to make it an enjoyable weekend/beach read. If Jenny Jackson put her writing skills to a deeper and more well-thought out plot she could really do something because she’s not a bad writer. I didn’t hate it but didn’t love it. Perfect for a plane ride or long car rides where you want to be entertained but not wrecked.