Pineapple Street

The last several books I've read have been either so heavy or so dark, Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson was such a nice change of pace. Don't be fooled into thinking this is some frivolous family drama, though. Jackson got the idea for her debut novel after reading about the problem of wealth inequity. The stars of the novel are a family of one-percenters. Yes, the children independently, through inheritance, are each multimillionaires.

The genesis of the story was, in part, an article in The New York Times, “The Rich Kids Who Want to Tear Down Capitalism”, “about socially minded millennial heirs who feel like their inheritance is at odds with their morality”. This is the story of two generations of the Stockton family. The parents seem very comfortable with their wealth, with both what they've inherited and what they've earned by working. Their three adult children (and the siblings of the two older ones) are still trying to figure out how to reconcile that kind of wealth with the kinds of lives they want to live and the types of people they want to be.

I guess this story struck a chord with me because inherited wealth and wealth inequality is something that I talked about with my adult kids (close in age to the Stockton kids) all the time during our daily COVID Facetime calls. Does any person need to have billions? What about millions? What about inherited wealth? Shouldn't we find something to replace capitalism? If my kids were into reading this type of novel, it's one that I would suggest for them.

I also loved the novel because it was set in Brooklyn Heights (NYC). The author really evokes Brooklyn Heights. While I haven't been there in years, I could picture some of the streets that were described. And I could imagine the young people now living on the "fruit streets" of Brooklyn Heights.

I've heard lots of people applaud this book because it's light and funny. It was an easy read. I enjoyed Jackson's craft and character development. But was it light? Or funny? Not if you really stop to think about wha you are reading.

I highly recommend.