Pineapple Street 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. She 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 prenup has everyone worried about her intentions. And Georgiana, the baby of the family, is falling in love with someone she can’t (and really shouldn’t) have, and must confront the kind of person she wants to be.
Money tends to have a unique relationship with everyone. While for some it may be the answer to their problems, for others it may be the root cause of them.
The Stocktons are the one-percenters who have a somewhat awkward relationship with money. It puts them in a different world which is not so much a class divide as it is a wealth divide. The parents – Chip and Tilda Stockton – influential as they are, are forever caught up in themed parties and elaborate fundraisers. They have a stronghold on their children’s lives and the family is unaccustomed to conflict of any kind.
Trapped in this life of privilege, the Stockton girls – Darley and Georgiana – do not consider Sasha one of their own because of her simpler upbringing. Having grown up with a sizeable trust fund, all they see is a gold digger who has taken over their childhood home on Pineapple Street, after marrying their brother, Cord.
On the surface, nothing significant occurs in this book. However, you realise that is how the story is meant to be. They are all living in their little bubbles, far removed from reality. And when the bubble pops, they are forced to look at themselves in the mirror only to find a stranger looking back.
I can’t say the characters are particularly endearing, nor are they revolting. They sit squarely in the middle as a medium to tell this story, to show the disparity in mindset between old money and its newer, younger generation.
The book has an acquired taste despite the wit and humour because you can’t relate to the characters’ rich people problems. Even so, it talks about upbringing, relationships, identity and acceptance.
A whole lot of family drama and a complicated set of characters makes this an entertaining social commentary.
Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson. Due to be published on 13th April 2023 by Hutchinson Heinemann, an imprint of Cornerstone, Penguin Random House UK. This ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Cornerstone.
Book 7 of 2023.
Aquamarine Flavours Rating: 🌟🌟🌟1/2.
Available on Amazon*.
*Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link which means, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase.
Aquamarine Flavours 