A compelling character-driven story about privilege, class and family. Told from different perspectives, it gives a holistic view of the characters and their thoughts and feelings. Well written and entertaining.

Pineapple Street is the story of three women: Sasha, Darley and Georgiana. Darley and George are sisters and Sasha is married to their brother Cord. They're Stocktons, only Sasha isn't a Stockton by birth so she isn't readily accepted into the tribe. The problem's exacerbated when the clan matriarch, Tilda, asks Cord and Sasha if they'd like to move into the Pineapple Street property. Tilda and Chip have renovated and downsized to another property, a street or so away, which they own. They won't need any of the furniture from Pineapple Street, so Sasha and Cord can move straight in. Nominally, they had a choice but that wasn't the reality. Darley and Georgiana start to call Sasha 'the gold digger'. She's living in their family home. They use it so often that they abbreviate it to 'the GD'.

Darley's the eldest and has never had to worry about money: there's always more than enough for everything she wants. She's married to Malcolm, who's big in the banking side of aviation. He's generally accepted by the clan because he does make big money, but - like Sasha - he's an outsider. Occasionally he and Sasha will murmur NMF (not my family) to each other when the Stockton shenanigans get too much. Darley used to have a high-flying career but gave it up when her second child was born. She's even given up her trust fund (she wouldn't enter into a prenup with Malcolm, so that was the consequence): it's not as though she's going to need it, is it? It will go straight to her children.

Georiana's the youngest and unmarried. She has a job with a charity but not out of necessity. The mortgage on her apartment is paid out of the interest on her trust fund. It could have been bought from the principle but this was better financial management. She doesn't actually know what her trust fund is worth: she's never bothered to open the statements. Georgiana makes the mistake of loving the person she shouldn't love and is then forced to confront the person she has become.

I don't often do chest infections but when I do, I pull out all the stops. I needed comfort reading: a book which would engage me before I got to the bottom of the first page and hang on tenaciously, even in those early hours when you just can't sleep. The characters have got to be relatable but certainly not perfect. The writing has got to be exquisite - so good that you hardly notice that it's there - but with the sharp observations (Tilda's obsession with tennis and tablescapes) which make you smile and go back to reread a paragraph just for the sheer pleasure of it. Was I asking too much? Not at all: the review fairy was looking out for me with Pineapple Street. I loved it, and I'd like to thank the publishers for letting Bookbag have a review copy.

I ended up loving this story, but there were moments why I asked myself why I cared. It's a gentle, meandering tale about the very rich of New York, across two key generations - one which {naturally) married other very wealthy, connected people from the same rarefied strata of society, and the next which finds itself exposed to people from differing backgrounds through their work, or social lives. This generation is the one questioning their vast wealth and what do to with it. The very visible philanthropy of previous generations doesn't sit so comfortably with this one, yet how, from their ivory towers, should they make change? It's about insiders, outsiders, love, suspicion, fear, loss, guilt, communication (or lack of) and, in the end, family. It's a gentle, questioning read and ends up hooking you in till the final line.

I loved this one. The dynamics of a family and with the people who married into the family was really believable. Every so often I read a book that makes me see it as a film with a narrator in my head, this was one of those books.
It's snippets of the Stockton's family life throughout about a year,with some past background explanations every now and then. I enjoying the dip into their lives.

At first, I thought this story would be quite entertaining and interesting. However, after getting through 41% of the story, I felt like the plot wasn't really going anywhere. There seemed to be alot of character background and development but no real exciting story. I didn't finish the book because I just didn't feel like the book was going anywhere or that the characters were likeable enough to want to carry on.

Pineapple Street examines the dynamics of an old-money family in Brooklyn. Some of the observations were quite witty and entertaining but the majority of the characters were quite spoilt, petty, and entitled so I struggled to find sympathy for them or even care about their character arc. Overall, it was an enjoyable and easy read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for the advanced reading copy.

I was a little confused by this book, narrated in turn by two very privileged sisters and their middle-class sister-in-law (who they refer to as The Gold Digger, unattractively). It's often very funny, skewering family pretensions, and there's a hilarious note near the end where a house basically takes its own revenge, but also there's quite a lot about how difficult it is to be super-rich and not know whether people are going to take advantage of you, explaining why the super-rich only hang out together; although I had sympathy for Sasha, the sister-in-law, I couldn't really, as a good socialist, summon up much for Darley and Georgiana, the spoilt sisters.

Although their brother just bumbles along, taking a good while to realise what the family dynamics are doing to his wife, who he has once told he will always put family first (and he doesn't mean her), the two young women do try to do good, Darley giving up her trust fund so as not to undermine her husband (it doesn't disappear, of course, but goes to their children, a hilarious chaotic pair she struggles to contain without her mother-in-law and her mother's housekeeper) and George belatedly realising her privilege and trying to give her riches away. Well, we learn how difficult it is to give away a trust fund, anyway. There's also a whisper of understanding of the power dynamics in the relationship she has for part of the book, and presumably the divesting of trust funds theme in the book reflects a real-life phenomenon, which is interesting.

It's also competently written and plotted and nicely structured; we don't realise until a long way through the book the import of the person centred in the Prelude, for instance, and there are some plot doublings and echoes that come to light as we progress which are very nicely done. And there is a lot of humour in it: the three siblings' mum, Tilda is certainly satirised (and those grandparent names!), a classic WASP more interested in table settings than prospective grandchildren who can only communicate with her daughters via tennis matches, but then all of her prejudices and connections come good when someone needs to be punished.

My review published on my blog 05 April https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2023/04/05/book-review-jenny-jackson-pineapple-street/

I enjoyed this book about the Stockton family whose family home is on Pineapple Street. A nice read but nothing special. One for when you’re relaxing and just want an easy read

I thoroughly enjoyed the escapism of Pineapple Street. I think so many readers of my generation grew up with the writing of Nora Ephron and TV series depicting aspirational New York City lives, from Sex and the City to Gossip Girl and this novel fills that gap. It's a well written, character-driven story, which wryly skewers the 1% whilst also injecting some humanity into this initially rather unlikeable family of Brooklyn WASPS. Pineapple Street is a deftly written and assured debut novel and it didn't surprise me to learn that the author is also the acclaimed editor of many best-selling writers in the US.

Pineapple Street is a fun novel about drama, secrets and wealth, all set among the top 1% who have so much wealth they’ll never need to worry about money. However, this doesn’t mean they don’t have their own problems to contend with…

The novel centres around the Stockton family, who are from ‘old money’. It focuses on three women in particular – Georgina, the youngest daughter; Darley, the eldest; and Sasha, who married into the family but has never felt quite at home. We meet their partners, parents, and friends as we peek into their hugely privileged lives.

It took me a while to get into this novel, no doubt partly because these characters are not the sort of people I immediately warm to or find myself rooting for. Most (though perhaps not all) are rich, spoilt and selfish and I rolled my eyes on many occasions reading this book – which I imagine Jenny Jackson fully intended the reader to do. However, I did ultimately find myself intrigued by these characters because their lives are so very different to my own, and I think that is the main draw in this book: pure escapism. You’re thrown into this world where priorities and worries are very different to the rest of the population. Though they might be irritating at times, you can sort of forget about everything else whilst reading Pineapple Street.

Though some of the characters are likeable enough, all had their faults and issues, but for me this made them feel more believable. The book is very character-driven and as we follow these characters we see certain family members take stock of their lives. It took quite a while for the characters to feel anything other than mostly spoilt, rich people who have no idea how lucky they are, but eventually they do seem to develop and become more layered, intriguing people.

The ending felt a little too much considering how some of the characters started out in the novel, but nevertheless Pineapple Street was entertaining and fun, with some more serious topics addressed too. I’d recommend it if you fancy something escapist and easy to read.

Starts out an absolute delight but wraps up a little too neatly.

I loved the first three quarters of this book, the witty, sparky story of three young women living in salubrious Brooklyn Heights. Darcey has it all: loving husband, adorable children, gorgeous apartment, family mere streets away. But cracks are starting to show underneath her apparently perfect life. Her little sister Georgiana is trying to prove her philanthropist credentials with a lowly paid job at a global health non-profit, but is she as good a person as she wants people to think? And their sister-in-law Sacha grew up in a very different world; will she ever really fit in to the rarefied society she’s married in to? And does she even want to?

I loved the cutting and often hilarious observations about Brooklyn’s elite, and Darcey and Georgiana’s gloriously snobby socialite mother is a delight. But the book sticks to gentle society satire and steers away from any actual commentary on wealth and class, and everyone’s very real problems get wrapped up incredibly neatly. What starts out feeling like modern Edith Wharton ends with the tone of a Hallmark movie. If you’re looking for a fluffy beach read it’s certainly charming and a fun diversion.

Firstly thanks you to NetGalley, Jenny Jackson and the publishers, Random House UK for the opportunity to read this ARC in return for an honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, Jenny Jackson has a brilliant writing style which just allows the sentences to flow and the ages to fly by. HOWEVER, and it’s probably a fairly big however…I’m not quite sure what the point of the book was. The story is nice enough, the characters all playing their part, especially Sasha, Georgiana and Darley, but I’m just struggling to understand the point. It barely went anywhere and just seemed like a look at the life and times of the Stocktons without much else. Oh well…a nice easy read and definitely worth a look.

This book is the definition of rich people problems - if you like Succession and TV shows that have Reese Witherspoon playing a neurotic rich woman… you’ll like this book.

The Stockton family are old money New Yorkers - all beautiful and filthy rich. We follow youngest daughter Georgiana as she falls in love with somebody she shouldn’t and ends up reevaluating her entire life, Darley gave up her trust fund for marriage and is now having serious regrets and Sasha has married into the family and feels like an interloper in their exclusive club.

This was a fun quick read but not a lot really happens plot wise - it’s definitely one for people who prefer character driven stories. All the characters are absolutely insufferable but that’s the point - each of them does develop throughout the story but I still hated them all by the end but that’s not necessarily a bad thing!

I initially gave this 3 stars but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it so i’m bumping it up to 4 stars, it’s one of those books that sticks around and that’s hard to do.

Fun and lighthearded read, perfect for vacation!

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson is a novel that follows the lives of the well-connected, old-money Stockton family residing on Pineapple Street in Brooklyn Heights, New York. The story is told from the perspectives of the two adult daughters of the family: Darley and Georgiana, and their sister-in-law Sasha. Each character struggles with their own challenges, such as the sacrifices Darley made to become a mother, Sasha's outsider status as a middle-class woman who married into the wealthy family, and Georgiana's forbidden love interest.

The novel is rich with the indulgent pleasures of life among New York's one-percenters and the peculiar unknowability of someone else's family. However, the story is often more focused on money than class, and the characters' actions are sometimes a bit ridiculous and hard to relate to. Despite this, the book is an easy and entertaining read, full of drama and secrets that keep you invested in the characters' lives.

The author's wit and playfulness shine through in her sharp monitoring of the characters' conversations, providing delightful dialogues of amusement and anger. The class differences of the spouses, the weekly schedule of dinner parties and tennis, prenuptials, trust funds, and the house itself all permeate the story with social satire and banter.

Overall, Pineapple Street is a great escapist novel that would make a good beach read. While the book may not delve deeply into the complexities of class, it offers an entertaining glimpse into the lives of the wealthy elite and the challenges they face.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

One of the worst books I’ve ever encountered. There is essentially no plot, and none of the characters seem appealing at all. The supposed New York’s elite seems to be as plain and boring as using Greek yoghurt instead of a salad dressing. I stopped reading after a supposedly well-educated bright woman did not even know that UEA is a country. Horrible, horrible, horrible. Turns out that just because you’re a book editor, it does not mean you’re a good writer yourself. The only upside is that I didn’t pay for this book, because it would be one of the rare times I’d ask for a refund.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A book looking into the life of an uber rich family in New York and how life and events in the real world affects them. The novel focuses on the three siblings of the old moneyed Stockton family and their respective partners. There were laugh out loud moments in the novel, but there were also times when I was just so frustrated that I just wanted to throw the book across the room. A quick read that is probably best read on holiday. I think that it will be a marmite book but will divide opinion. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this novel in return for an honest review.

My usual go-to genre is crime fiction, the gorier the better. But every so often I need a change of scene, a palate cleanser so to speak, and this book offered me just that, and did it very well indeed.
It is a character driven domestic tale of the Stockton family, well connected, wealthy, doyennes of New York, Darley, Sasha, and Georgina.
Darley, the eldest, forwent her family's money, married for love and gave up her high-flying job to raise her 2 children. Relying on husband Malcolm's job for money.
Sasha married into the family, having signed her pre-nup and is now stuck with husband Cord who is a bit of a clone for his father Chip. They live in the family home in Pineapple Street although it must remain as is, no changes allowed. Resentment is high that they get the house to live in so Sasha isn't the happiest.
Georgina, the youngest, is a bit of a wild child whose only real outlet is tennis which she plays with Tilda, her only friend. And then she meets and gets together with a wholly unsuitable man...
As I was reading this book I wasn't really sure there was a lot going on. It was just the lives of all these, mostly dysfunctional, people, warts and all, but by the end of the book, as I finished and sat back, I realise exactly what the characters had gone through during my time with them. And it was not inconsequential. It very well illustrated the old adage of things are never what they seem, people are more than the surface they portray. Scratch that surface and all manor of stuff oozes out...
The pacing was slow and steady and actually forced me to slow my reading down - again I refer to my earlier palate cleanser comment. I also learned, inadvertently, a lot about New York. Not knowledge I want to retain tbh, being more of a fan of Boston ;)
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Pineapple Street is a character-driven book that essentially follows the lives of the Stockton Family in their little corner of Brooklyn Heights. We read the book from three different points of view, Darley, Georgiana, and Sasha, and we view the world and each character through their eyes.

The book was relatively enjoyable, but it had absolutely no plot. I found myself constantly asking what the point was and where exactly the story was going. It mainly commented on the effect of wealth on family and friendships. It commented on how when you grow up wealthy, you are kept in a bubble that shields you from the harsh reality of life and the world; and for some this bubble is never popped. While it is nice to read social commentary on the one-percenters of the world (it reminded me of reading An Inspector Calls at school), I would have liked to have a plot.

The book is described as 'Rife with the indulgent pleasures of life among New York’s one-percenters', but I didn't really get much of that in the book. Yes, we saw some of their parties and spending habits, but it didn't really go into too much detail. I would have loved to see the wild antics of the rich discussed in the present, rather than past tense where characters reminisced on events for like 1 paragraph and moved on.

Overall, the book was just okay, and nothing else.

This was a really interesting read. I loved the following of the three children of a well connected family and the way they made decisions and battled with their relationships with romance, families and money.
An attention grabbing and captivating read.

I really liked this one, and it‘s a great debut, but it‘s not really anything out of the ordinary. If you like reading about ridiculously rich people, some of whom are slightly obnoxious and the rest *really* obnoxious then this is the book for you. (I‘ve seen comparisons to Gossip Girl but that all passed me by so 🤷‍♀️)

For me, I would say it‘s a bit Liane Moriarty and Taylor Jenkins Reed with some more acerbic Danielle Steel thrown in for good measure.