Young Jane Young: Women Face Repercussions

Gabrielle Zevin's Young Jane Young is one of the most inventive novels I've read this year. It tells a wildly compelling story about a woman who has an affair with a married Congressman and then faces the aftermath while he emerges relatively unscathed and continues his political ambitions (sound familiar?). Men reading this blog, I urge you to pick up this novel and give it a whirl: it is superbly written and might give you some insight into why the women around you think the world is so unfair.

The story is told in five parts from the perspectives of three generations of women affected by these events. Aviva Grossman is the name of the young college intern who had the affair. Over the course of the novel, you get to hear the story from her indignant Jewish retiree mother in Boca Raton, from the Congressman's wife, from Aviva's daughter, and from Aviva herself. The fifth part of this novel is my absolute favorite, a Choose Your Own Adventure narrative outlining the various choices that Aviva made when she began her internship that led to the affair and its repercussions. It is funny, poignant, and searingly incisive about how our actions can have long-ranging consequences that alter not just our own lives, but the lives of everyone around us.

Of course, the most relevant part of this book is that it is told solely from the perspective of women. And because Zevin is playing the long game, you don't simply get each character's initial reaction, but their evolution as they come to grips with the events and have to deal with the ramifications. There's a fair amount of slut-shaming and guilt, then a certain defiance and indignation at Aviva's unfair treatment, and then a repetition of the whole cycle once Aviva's daughter gets older and discovers her mother's past. All of these narratives are woven together masterfully, playing off each other in perfect harmony and reaching a sweet crescendo in that final section that wraps up the entire story and reveals all the secrets that have been lurking in the shadows for the past 300 pages.

Young Jane Young is the work of an author at the peak of her abilities. It is un-put-down-able, a binge read that is as entertaining as it is enlightening, featuring a cast of fictional women that I would love to get to know in real life. It has a blistering plot, solid character development, and an unconventional structure, all factors that intertwine to make this one of the most enjoyable books of the year. Seek it out and discover who Young Jane Young is. She's a character you'll never forget.