doug reviewed Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau
Review of 'Mary Jane' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Love the setting and the characters. Anyone who grew up in the 70s will enjoy this book.
Hardcover, 320 pages
English language
Published by Custom House.
4 stars
(4 reviews)
In 1970s Baltimore, fourteen-year-old Mary Jane loves cooking with her mother, singing in her church choir, and enjoying her family’s subscription to the Broadway Show Tunes of the Month record club. Shy, quiet, and bookish, she’s glad when she lands a summer job as a nanny for the daughter of a local doctor. A respectable job, Mary Jane’s mother says. In a respectable house.
The house may look respectable on the outside, but inside it’s a literal and figurative mess: clutter on every surface, IMPEACHMENT: Now More Than Ever bumper stickers on the doors, cereal and takeout for dinner. And even more troublesome (were Mary Jane’s mother to know, which she does not): The doctor is a psychiatrist who has cleared his summer for one important job—helping a famous rock star dry out. A week after Mary Jane starts, the rock star and his movie star wife move in.
Over …
In 1970s Baltimore, fourteen-year-old Mary Jane loves cooking with her mother, singing in her church choir, and enjoying her family’s subscription to the Broadway Show Tunes of the Month record club. Shy, quiet, and bookish, she’s glad when she lands a summer job as a nanny for the daughter of a local doctor. A respectable job, Mary Jane’s mother says. In a respectable house.
The house may look respectable on the outside, but inside it’s a literal and figurative mess: clutter on every surface, IMPEACHMENT: Now More Than Ever bumper stickers on the doors, cereal and takeout for dinner. And even more troublesome (were Mary Jane’s mother to know, which she does not): The doctor is a psychiatrist who has cleared his summer for one important job—helping a famous rock star dry out. A week after Mary Jane starts, the rock star and his movie star wife move in.
Over the course of the summer, Mary Jane introduces her new household to crisply ironed clothes and a family dinner schedule, and has a front-row seat to a liberal world of sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll (not to mention group therapy). Caught between the lifestyle she’s always known and the future she’s only just realized is possible, Mary Jane will arrive at September with a new idea about what she wants out of life, and what kind of person she’s going to be.
pithypants reviewed Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau
Review of 'Mary Jane' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Ignore the reviews that compare this to Daisy Jones or Almost Famous. Yes, this story involves two famous musicians, but it's not really about them or the entertainment industry. This is a charming coming of age story set in Baltimore in the 60s/70s with a quirky cast of supporting characters you can't help but (mostly) like. This is the summer Mary Jane starts to question the life she was born into, see her parents' flaws, and start to figure out who she is when not defined by her family. This one hooked me from its initial paragraphs and I was sad to see it end.
Definitely recommend as an audiobook.
Subjects
- Fiction
- Coming of age
- Rock & Roll
- 1970s