JULY 2021 - AudioFile
Caitlin Kinnunen demonstrates superb range in her narration of this sweet, funny coming-of-age story set in 1970s Baltimore. At 14, Mary Jane is rooted in her conservative family’s routine, so she’s shocked when she nannies Izzy, the daughter of a psychiatrist who has a rock star and his wife, an actress, staying with them. Mary Jane’s worldview expands as she witnesses liberal lifestyles and overhears conversations about sex, drugs, and rock and roll. From the gravelly voiced musician to the high-pitched Izzy, Kinnunen gives each character a distinct voice, making listeners feel as though they are part of the loving, chaotic home. Kinnunen takes advantage of musical sound effects with a strong delivery of singing and a periodic refrain of “cha, cha, pop” spoken with pep. A.L.C. 2022 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
03/01/2021
Blau (The Summer of Naked Swim Parties) returns with a sweet if simplistic coming-of-age story about a teenage girl’s influential encounter with a rock star couple in 1975 Baltimore. Mary Jane Dillard, 14, the responsible daughter of country-clubbing, conservative Betsy and Gerald, takes a job as a nanny for her parents’ free-spirited acquaintances, the Cones: Richard, a psychiatrist; and Bonnie, his bohemian wife. The Cones need Mary Jane’s help with their five-year-old daughter while hosting celebrity couple Jimmy and Sheba as part of Jimmy’s group therapy treatment for his alcohol and drug addiction. Jimmy sings in a popular band, and Sheba stars in a variety show. Soon Mary Jane uses her choir voice to sing in harmony with Jimmy and Sheba, and as she witnesses both couples’ emotional outbursts and unadulterated shows of affection, she gains a deeper understanding of the potential of human relationships and of her own musical talent. Mary Jane’s narration can be cloying (“I wondered if the addict would look like the addicts I’d seen downtown from the window of the car,” Mary Jane thinks, anticipating Jimmy’s arrival), and the narrative arc, though shaped by Mary Jane’s eye-opening exposure to the realities of adulthood, is not particularly sophisticated. Still, this might please readers looking to indulge their ’70s nostalgia. (May)
From the Publisher
"Delightful...Blau is a deft hand with comic juxtaposition and domestic fantasy. She keeps it light, she keeps it moving and she’s got terrific visuals...You can watch the movie in your mind. Lady Gaga as Sheba? I’m already casting it." — New York Times Book Review
"I LOVED Jessica Anya Blau’s novel. Mary Jane is about an oppressed teenager being given a jolt of life and joy by an eccentric found family of therapists, a child, a rock star and a movie star in the 1970s....If you have ever sung along to a hit on the radio, in any decade, then you will devour Mary Jane at 45rpm." — Nick Hornby
"I dare you to find a more winning novel than Jessica Anya Blau’s Mary Jane. Filled with humor and sharpness and so much light, this book introduces an amazing cast of characters, all so unique and finely observed, held together by the clarity of Mary Jane’s voice. It evokes those rare moments when your world is on the precipice of change, almost a dream, and how thrilling it is to push your way toward something new." — Kevin Wilson
"Blau’s intelligent, witty novel captures the essence of the ’70s with humor and immensely appealing characters. Highly recommended." — Library Journal (starred review)
"Blau’s coming-of-age charmer will hit all of the nostalgia notes." — Parade
"MARY JANE is that rare thing: An utterly charming, absurdly delightful novel that also makes you think deeply about the world around you. Jessica Anya Blau's clear-eyed wit reminded me of Curtis Sittenfeld and Laurie Colwin, and, of course, Jane Austen." — Joanna Rakoff, author of My Salinger Year
“The experience of reading Jessica Anya Blau’s Mary Jane is a lot like eating quality candy: super enjoyable, crazy good. I am sad to have finished it.” — Marcy Dermansky
"A serious book packed with funny moments and a lot of heart." — Boston Globe
"A charming and poignant tale of desire, image, Americana, and chosen family." — Booklist
"This novel is a week at the beach with rock stars, it’s a three-part harmony at a kitchen table, it’s finding a family where you fit in. Jessica Anya Blau is a smart, generous, sensitive storyteller, and Mary Jane is a loving, sexy, funny, and beautiful book." — Gabriel Brownstein, author of The Open Heart Club
“Jessica Anya Blau is one of the funniest writers—EVER. No one captures the oddities, joys —and yes—the pain—of modern life with such frankness, humor and sly-witted style.” — ZZ Packer, author of Drinking Coffee Elsewhere
"Both poignant and tremendously funny...unendingly charming and fun." — Shelf Awareness
"Wonderful...A tale of clashing cultures and a slow awakening of ideas, hope and beliefs, this is one of those novels you’ll be so glad to lose yourself to. It’s also perfect for fans of Curtis Sittenfeld's books – and we can give it no higher praise…" — Stylist (UK)
Marcy Dermansky
The experience of reading Jessica Anya Blau’s Mary Jane is a lot like eating quality candy: super enjoyable, crazy good. I am sad to have finished it.”
Parade
"Blau’s coming-of-age charmer will hit all of the nostalgia notes."
Booklist
"A charming and poignant tale of desire, image, Americana, and chosen family."
New York Times Book Review
"Delightful...Blau is a deft hand with comic juxtaposition and domestic fantasy. She keeps it light, she keeps it moving and she’s got terrific visuals...You can watch the movie in your mind. Lady Gaga as Sheba? I’m already casting it."
Joanna Rakoff
"MARY JANE is that rare thing: An utterly charming, absurdly delightful novel that also makes you think deeply about the world around you. Jessica Anya Blau's clear-eyed wit reminded me of Curtis Sittenfeld and Laurie Colwin, and, of course, Jane Austen."
Kevin Wilson
"I dare you to find a more winning novel than Jessica Anya Blau’s Mary Jane. Filled with humor and sharpness and so much light, this book introduces an amazing cast of characters, all so unique and finely observed, held together by the clarity of Mary Jane’s voice. It evokes those rare moments when your world is on the precipice of change, almost a dream, and how thrilling it is to push your way toward something new."
Nick Hornby
"I LOVED Jessica Anya Blau’s novel. Mary Jane is about an oppressed teenager being given a jolt of life and joy by an eccentric found family of therapists, a child, a rock star and a movie star in the 1970s....If you have ever sung along to a hit on the radio, in any decade, then you will devour Mary Jane at 45rpm."
ZZ Packer
Jessica Anya Blau is one of the funniest writers—EVER. No one captures the oddities, joys —and yes—the pain—of modern life with such frankness, humor and sly-witted style.
Gabriel Brownstein
"This novel is a week at the beach with rock stars, it’s a three-part harmony at a kitchen table, it’s finding a family where you fit in. Jessica Anya Blau is a smart, generous, sensitive storyteller, and Mary Jane is a loving, sexy, funny, and beautiful book."
Booklist
"A charming and poignant tale of desire, image, Americana, and chosen family."
Stylist (UK)
"Wonderful...A tale of clashing cultures and a slow awakening of ideas, hope and beliefs, this is one of those novels you’ll be so glad to lose yourself to. It’s also perfect for fans of Curtis Sittenfeld's books – and we can give it no higher praise…"
Shelf Awareness
"Both poignant and tremendously funny...unendingly charming and fun."
Michael Elias
"This may be the best book about an adolescent since The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Fourteen-year-old Mary Jane, straight as a ruler, gets a summer job as a nanny to sweet Izzie, whose psychiatrist father is providing live-in therapy to a recovering rock star. Mary Jane and her cast of characters will carry you to bliss on every page. It’s Baltimore in the 70s and Jessica Anya Blau gets everything right. Buy it for someone you love."
San Francisco Chronicle
It’s hard to recall a debut as warm, charming and comically satisfying as The Summer of Naked Swim Parties . . . Blau conveys Jamie’s world with compelling insight and wit . . . [Blau’s] sharp observation and affectionate humor [give] surprising depth to this shimmering novel.
Time Out New York on The Summer of Naked Swim Parties
Recovered Judy Blume addicts, brace yourselves for a relapse: Jessica Anya Blau’s debut novel, set in Santa Barbara, California, during the summer of ’76, is a poignant, gleeful ode to the turbulence of growing up . . . [A] dead-on portrayal of the simple yet shocking revelations of youth.
Cosmopolitan on The Summer of Naked Swim Parties
Reading this heartfelt and humorous coming-of-age story is the perfect way to spend a hot summer day.
null Time Out New York on The Summer of Naked Swim Parties
Recovered Judy Blume addicts, brace yourselves for a relapse: Jessica Anya Blau’s debut novel, set in Santa Barbara, California, during the summer of ’76, is a poignant, gleeful ode to the turbulence of growing up . . . [A] dead-on portrayal of the simple yet shocking revelations of youth.
null Cosmopolitan on The Summer of Naked Swim Parties
Reading this heartfelt and humorous coming-of-age story is the perfect way to spend a hot summer day.
Library Journal
★ 04/01/2021
In 1975, shy, self-conscious 14-year-old Mary Jane Dillard takes a summer job as a day nanny caring for precocious five-year-old Izzy, the daughter of Mary Jane's wealthy neighbors Richard and Bonnie Cone. Mary Jane's own proper upbringing, with private schools, country clubs, and churchgoing, doesn't prepare her for the Cones' freestyle life. Mrs. Cone doesn't wear a bra, nor does she cook or clean, and Izzy is more or less on her own. With bubbly, wisecracking Izzy at her side, Mary Jane brings order to the Cone household. But it's temporary. Dr. Cone's famous patient, a rock star named Jimmy, arrives for the summer for clandestine drug addiction treatment, accompanied by his movie star wife, Sheba. Mary Jane is in awe of these superstars, but when she joins the family sing-along with Jimmy's impromptu guitar strumming, and when Sheba takes Mary Jane shopping for her first bikini, her formerly restrictive life opens up. Mary Jane navigates teen angst, R & B, marijuana, sex, and group therapy; by summer's end, everyone, including Mary Jane's own intolerant parents, learns about life, family, and loyalty. VERDICT Blau's intelligent, witty novel (after the critically acclaimed Drinking Closer to Home) captures the essence of the '70s with humor and immensely appealing characters. Highly recommended.—Donna Bettencourt, Mesa Cty. P.L., Grand Junction, CO
JULY 2021 - AudioFile
Caitlin Kinnunen demonstrates superb range in her narration of this sweet, funny coming-of-age story set in 1970s Baltimore. At 14, Mary Jane is rooted in her conservative family’s routine, so she’s shocked when she nannies Izzy, the daughter of a psychiatrist who has a rock star and his wife, an actress, staying with them. Mary Jane’s worldview expands as she witnesses liberal lifestyles and overhears conversations about sex, drugs, and rock and roll. From the gravelly voiced musician to the high-pitched Izzy, Kinnunen gives each character a distinct voice, making listeners feel as though they are part of the loving, chaotic home. Kinnunen takes advantage of musical sound effects with a strong delivery of singing and a periodic refrain of “cha, cha, pop” spoken with pep. A.L.C. 2022 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2021-01-27
An adolescent girl comes of age in this nostalgic novel of 1970s Baltimore.
In the summer of 1975, nothing has stopped earnest 14-year-old Mary Jane Dillard from loyally accepting her strict Presbyterian mother’s beliefs about what it means to be a well-behaved young woman. Her familiar world turns upside down, however, when she begins nannying for the Cones, an unconventional family made up of Dr. Cone, a psychiatrist, Mrs. Cone, a housewife who—scandalously—doesn’t cook or clean, and Izzy, their winsome daughter. Mary Jane quickly becomes an integral component of the Cone household, not only taking care of Izzy, but also cooking and cleaning for the family. When Dr. Cone welcomes two top-secret guests—a rock star recovering from drug addiction and his movie-star wife—to the household, Mary Jane finds herself getting an unexpected but thrilling crash course in music, fame, sex, and the adult world…one that she’s inevitably forced to hide from her conservative parents. Blau paints an overly rosy picture of Mary Jane’s coming-of-age: Though the book nominally engages with weighty topics including addiction, adultery, and racism, it fails to seriously reckon with them or with the complex and often ugly history of America in the 1970s. The novel’s countercultural setting is, regrettably, mere window dressing. Though Mary Jane’s desire to escape her parents’ oppressive home is understandable, Blau never critically interrogates the Cones’ extreme openness, particularly about sex, which is also inappropriate given the fact that Mary Jane is only 14. With the exception of some clunky dialogue, Blau’s novel is readable and modestly entertaining, and readers nostalgic for the rock-and-roll scene of the '70s will likely enjoy its depiction of a wayward star, but it never dares to ask difficult questions.
A frustratingly sentimental depiction of adolescence and American counterculture.
