January 9, 2023
Jackson’s clever if tepid debut chronicles the struggles of three women born or married into an old-monied New York City family. Cord Stockton, the family’s middle child, marries Sasha, and the couple takes over the family’s Brooklyn Heights house. Sasha, who comes from a middle-class Rhode Island family, is referred to as “the GD” (gold digger) by Cord’s sisters. Darley Stockton, the oldest, gives up her banking career to be a full-time mom. Georgiana, the youngest, is mainly a directionless party girl with a gig at a nonprofit, where she’s sleeping with her married boss. Tensions come to a head as Darley’s and Georgiana’s fortunes shift and Sasha decides to beat it for Rhode Island. Unfortunately, most of the characters aside from Sasha are underdeveloped (Stockton matriarch Tilda delivers predictably cartoonish lines, like “Sasha, would you like to tell us what it was like growing up poor?”), though Jackson shines in her incisive observations about the ravages of contemporary real estate developments (at the former Hotel St. George, “ghosts of the original remained, the green balconies that once overlooked the swimming pool... now home to a series of elliptical machines where old people and college students climbed to nowhere”). Despite the dusty feeling, this has its moments. Agent: Brettne Bloom, Book Group.

Starred review from June 1, 2023

Jackson's debut provides an intimate window into the lives of the uber-wealthy Stockton family and their refined Brooklyn Heights's neighborhood whose streets are named after fruits. Narrator Marin Ireland gives voice to three of the Stockton women--Sasha, an outsider from Rhode Island who has married eldest son Cord and is referred to as the "Gold Digger" by Cord's casually catty sisters; eldest sister Darley, a mother of two and wife to Malcolm, a Korean American aviation-industry analyst; and youngest sister Georgiana, who is single but involved in a potentially explosive workplace relationship. With chameleon-like skill, Ireland reveals the nuances of each woman's personality, capturing Georgiana's cautious forays into independence, Darley's distress when Malcolm loses his job, and Sasha's struggles to be accepted by the impossibly snooty Stocktons. The Stocktons are a hard group to like--self-centered, exasperatingly out of touch, and consumed with the entitled minutiae of their everyday lives. Ireland allows their excess to show but deftly hints at the sorrow, insecurity, and deep love beneath their shiny facades. VERDICT While the Stocktons' shenanigans may have some rolling their eyes, listeners will likely be captivated by this expertly narrated and often surprising tale. Perfect for fans of Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney's The Nest.--Sarah Hashimoto

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