Mary Jane by Jessica Anya BlauMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
A charming book set in the 1970s, Nixon Era about a transformative summer for young teenage Mary Jane Dillard. She decides to get a summer job and looking after Izzy for the new family in the posh Baltimore neighborhood seemed perfect. Unfortunately, the Cone family isn’t the respectable family as her parents expected, starting with them being Jewish. Mary Jane’s conservative family and private school upbringing shielded her from so much, that when she heard about sex addiction, she assumed she was a sex addict, despite never even having kissed anyone.
The Cone household soon included two more, a famous married couple, a tv star and her rock star husband who Dr. Cone treats for addictions. Mary Jane quickly overcomes being star-struck over the couple and ends up being the only adult in the house as no one else cleans or knows how to cook, although there is a lot of love. This love and affection are something Mary Jane is missing from her home, and didn’t even know it.
The book is surprising and has a touch of humor throughout. Little Izzy is such a delight! And I love how the book showed the growth and transformation of Mary Jane. The writing was deft and seamless so you are just immersed into the story, as it should be.
I listened to the audiobook, and it had a surprise at the end, an original song that is mentioned in the book, near the end. For this reason I would recommend listening to the audio as the best way to read this book.
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