How does one go on after this? In Aviva’s case, she sees no way out but to change her name and move to a remote town in Maine. She tries to start over as a wedding planner, to be smarter about her life, and to raise her daughter to be strong and confident. But when, at the urging of others, decides to run for public office herself, that long-ago mistake trails her via the Internet like a scarlet A. For our age, Google guarantees that the past is never, ever, truly past, that everyone you've done will live on for everyone to know about for all eternity.
Review: Young Jane Young reminded me of a 21st century adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter and it was particularly interesting to read when sexism is openly discussed in our current events. Aviva Grossman's story is not very different from that of the notorious sex scandal featuring Formal President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. A young, naive 20 year old woman, Aviva Grossman, is caught in affair and sex scandal with a prominent Congressman. She details her affair on a blog though she doesn't include names it is easily to infer who she writes about. Like the real life Lewinsky, Aviva is hounded, slut shamed, and forever marked by the sex scandal.
Though the novel isn't original in its concept, its narrative structure gives us a panoramic point of views of how the scandal has affected several women's lives in its five sections. The first part is narrated by Aviva's fiercely independent mother, Rachel Shapiro, who is dipping her toes into online dating after being divorced for quite some time. She is also tainted by association by her daughter's actions when a reasonable date turns disastrous and mentions the scandal not realizing the subject is Rachel's own daughter. Rachel recounts how the debacle came about and how her daughter disappeared from her life 13 years ago. The second part is narrated by Jane Young, a single mother who is trying to establish a new life by being a wedding planner and eventually setting her sights on a political office though the internet footprint of the past continues to loom over her life and threaten her candidacy. The third section is narrated by the precocious Ruby, who is trying to survive middle school with minimal battle scars, and suddenly discovers her mother has not been honest with her. The fourth section is told from the Congressman's wife, many years after the sex scandal. The fifth and final section of the book ends as a "Choose your own adventure" ending where the reader gets to decide the fate of Aviva Grossman.
I did find the book to be a quick read and worthy of discussion though I often felt that it skimmed the surface of sexism and the permanence of social media. Though it does tackle our culture's obsession with scandal and betrayal, I was hoping more from some of the point of views such as the Congressman's wife (who in my opinion was a thinly veiled Hillary Clinton type of character). I wanted more depth with the book theme's and a little less wink-nudge-did-you-see-what-I-did- there? humor. While the choose your own adventure section of the book was unique, I would much rather have preferred to go back to Aviva's own voice. Overall, Young Jane Young is an entertaining, timely read that will foster a lot of discussion.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Words of Caution: There is some strong language and crude sexual humor. Recommended for mature teens and adults only.
If you like this book try: Attachment by Isabel Fonseca
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Too bad this book doesn't live up to it's potential as I thought it sounded really good. I may still read it over a vacation when I have more time.
The book sounds intriguing to me. Too bad you didn't enjoy it that much.
This sounds like an interesting read!