Young Jane Young A novel

Review by Booklist Review

If you're going to have an affair with a married congressman, don't blog about it. That's one of the tough lessons young Aviva Grossman learns in this splendid novel. As a 20-year-old intern for an up-and-coming politician in South Florida, Aviva makes a series of poor choices that lead to a scandal, destroying her career before it has even begun. Years later, an event planner named Jane Young is running for mayor in her Maine town when the specter of the Grossman affair threatens to derail her candidacy. A witty, strongly drawn group of female voices tells Aviva's story, three generations exploring the ripple effect her actions created. Zevin, whose works include several YA and adult novels, including The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry (2014), has created a fun and frank tale. Her vibrant and playful writing, and the fully realized characters taking turns as narrator, bring the story a zestful energy, even while exploring dark themes of secrecy and betrayal. Zevin perfectly captures the realities of the current political climate and the consequences of youthful indiscretions in an era when the Internet never forgets.--Thoreson, Bridget Copyright 2017 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Zevin (The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry) offers a satisfying and entertaining story of reinvention and second chances in the wake of a political sex scandal. Aviva Grossman was far and away the most capable intern working in the Florida district office of her local congressman-until their affair was exposed and the subsequent national scandal destroyed her reputation (though, tellingly, not the congressman's) and doused her political aspirations. Fast-forward more than a decade: Aviva, a single mom, has legally changed her name to Jane Young, moved to small-town Maine, and applied her logistical competence to running her own event planning business. When the town matriarch encourages Jane to run for mayor, her youthful indiscretions threaten to derail her tentative foray back into the political arena. Divided into sections, each focusing on a different woman-Aviva's mother, Jane; her 13-year-old daughter, Ruby; the congressman's wife; and Aviva-the novel's structure means that plot points are occasionally re-trod, though sometimes with surprising new insights. Zevin also plays with form, crafting Ruby's section as a series of frequently hilarious emails to her Indonesian pen pal and the final section like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" novel. Real-world parallels aside, Jane's story is in the end less about political scandal and more about gaining strength and moving on from youthful missteps. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by Library Journal Review

Zevin's newest novel (after the best-selling The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry) hinges on a political scandal. As a young, ambitious congressional intern, Aviva Grossman ignores her mother's warnings and refuses to break off a secret affair with her very married and very public figure of a boss. She compounds her error in judgement by blogging about it, misguidedly thinking she would remain anonymous. When the relationship is inevitably revealed, her blog and identity soon follow, tanking her burgeoning political career. The main narrative focuses on how scandal affects the lives of several women over the years, told from each of their perspectives. Aviva's mother explores her newly single life; adult Aviva finds herself inhabiting a different world than the one she had planned for herself; daughter Ruby reconciles the mother she knows with the infamous intern; and Embeth, the congressman's wife, offers her own take. VERDICT Presenting a sharp send-up of our culture's obsession with scandal and blame, this novel pulls at the seams of misogyny from all angles, some of them sure to be uncomfortable for readers. Likely to be a popular book club pick. [See Prepub Alert, 3/27/17; library marketing.]-Julie Kane, Washington & Lee Lib., Lexington, VA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

When a young political intern in South Florida has an affair with her boss, it leads to disasterat least at first.The best thing to come out of the Monica Lewinsky scandal since Lewinsky's own magnificent TED talk, Zevin's (The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, 2014, etc.) fourth adult novel reinvents the familiar story more cleverly and warmly than one would have thought possible. Five sections come at the situation from different angles. The first is called "Bubbe Meise" ("Old Wives' Tale" in Yiddish), and in it we hear the delightful old-Jewish-lady voice of Rachel Shapiro, a South Floridian who's dipping her toe into online dating. She's on a date that's going quite well until the fellow asks her daughter's name, and she tells him it's Aviva, and he remarks that that was the name of that awful girl who got in trouble with Congressman Levin back in 2001. "You really don't remember her? Well, Rach, she was like Monica Lewinsky.It was a blight on South Florida, a blight on Jews, a blight on politicians if that's even possible, a blight on civilization in general." That's the end of that beautiful relationship. Rachel gives us the outlines on the debacle, after which her daughter disappeared, 13 years ago now. "I have a cell phone number. She calls me once or twice a year. I believe I have a grandchild. Yes, I would call this a sadness in my life." To reveal more would be to give away too much, since part of the joy here is the unexpected way the story unfolds. I can tell you, as Rachel Shapiro might say, that you will hear from the eponymous Jane Young, who's a wedding planner in a small town in Maine, and that one of the sections is an adroit takeoff on the structure of the Choose Your Own Adventure books, also seen recently in Nathan Hill's The Nix. Must be generational. References to Monica Lewinsky herself are a running theme, recalling the brutal true story underlying this delicious fictional one. This book will not only thoroughly entertain everyone who reads it; it is the most immaculate takedown of slut-shaming in literature or anywhere else. Cheers, and gratitude, to the author. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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In the middle of a particularly brutal political season, I began to have dreams about Aviva Grossman, Florida's answer to Monica Lewinsky. Unless you lived in Florida at the turn of the century, you probably won't remember her. The story briefly made national headlines because Aviva Grossman had foolishly kept an anonymous blog, where she detailed some of the "highlights" of the affair. She never mentioned him by name--but everyone knew! It was speculated that Aviva wouldn't have kept a blog if she hadn't wanted everyone to know, but I don't think so. I think she was young and dumb, and I also think people didn't truly understand the Internet back then, if indeed they can be said to understand it now. So, okay, Aviva Grossman. As a twenty-year-old intern, Aviva had an affair with Aaron Levin, a congressman from Miami. He was not her "immediate supervisor," to quote the squishy statement he made during the press conference. "At no time was I the woman's immediate supervisor," Congressman Levin said, "and so, while I am deeply sorry for the pain I caused my loved ones, particularly my wife and sons, I assure you that no laws were broken." The woman! He could not even bring himself to say Aviva Grossman's name. The details of the affair, which were as tawdry and clichéd and human as you would expect, were on every local news channel and newspaper for months. One station even had a recurring segment called Avivawatch, as if she were a hurricane or an orca that had mysteriously beached itself. Fifteen years later, Levin's still in Congress; Aviva Grossman, whose résumé included a dual degree in political science and Spanish literature from the University of Miami, a tenaciously googleable blog, and of course that infamous stint as an intern, couldn't get a job. They didn't put a scarlet letter on her chest, but they didn't need to. That's what the Internet is for. In my dream, though, Aviva Grossman had managed to get past all of that. In my dream, she was in her forties and she had smart, short hair, and she was wearing a neutral pantsuit and a turquoise statement necklace, and she was running for national political office, though my dream wasn't clear which one. It felt like Congress to me, but maybe that's too poetically just. But it's my dream , so let's call it Congress. In any case, she was at a press conference when a journalist asked her about the affair. At first, Aviva gave a politician's response--"It was a long time ago and I'm sorry for any pain I caused"--and she sounded not unlike Congressman Levin. The journalist persisted. "Well," Aviva said, "being the age I am now and being in the position I am now, I can tell you with absolute certainty, I would never sleep with one of my campaign interns. But looking back and thinking about my part in it, my conduct, the only thing I can say . . . the only thing I can say about it is, I was very romantic and I was very young." Excerpted from Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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