Young Jane Young (Zevin)

Young Jane Young 
Gabrielle Zevin, 2017
Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
320 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781616205041


Summary
From the author of the international bestseller The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry comes another novel that will have everyone talking.

Aviva Grossman, an ambitious congressional intern in Florida, makes the mistake of having an affair with her boss — and blogging about it. When the affair comes to light, the beloved congressman doesn’t take the fall.

But Aviva does, and her life is over before it hardly begins: slut-shamed, she becomes a late-night talk show punch line, anathema to politics.

She sees no way out but to change her name and move to a remote town in Maine. This time, she tries to be smarter about her life and strives to raise her daughter, Ruby, to be strong and confident.

But when, at the urging of others, Aviva decides to run for public office herself, that long-ago mistake trails her via the Internet and catches up — an inescapable scarlet A. In the digital age, the past is never, ever, truly past.

And it’s only a matter of time until Ruby finds out who her mother was and is forced to reconcile that person with the one she knows.

Young Jane Young is a smart, funny, and moving novel about what it means to be a woman of any age, and captures not just the mood of our recent highly charged political season, but also the double standards alive and well in every aspect of life for women. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio
• Birth—October 24, 1977
• Where— New York City, New York, USA
• Education—B.A., Harvard University
• Currently—lives in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California


Gabrielle Zevin is an American author and screenwriter. Her novels include The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry (2014) and Young Jane Young (2017). She graduated from Harvard in 2000 with a degree in English & American Literature and lives in Silver Lake, Los Angeles.

Zevin's first writing job was as a teen music critic for her local newspaper. Her first novel Elsewhere was published in 2005. It was nominated for a 2006 Quill award, won the Borders Original Voices Award, and was a selection of the Barnes & Noble Book Club. It also made the Carnegie long list. The book has been translated into over twenty languages.

In 2007 Zevin was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay for Conversations with Other Women which starred Helena Bonham Carter and Aaron Eckhart and was also directed by Hans Canosa. (From Wikipedia. Retrieved 4/10/2014.)

Book Reviews
Maybe with enough determination and love and support, women can choose their own adventures. They can start, like Aviva, by choosing not to be ashamed. In this life-affirming novel, Zevin doesn’t make that look easy, but she makes it look possible.
Ron Charles - Washington Post


It’s brilliant and hilarious, and it makes you wince in recognition — for the double-standard that relegates scandalized women to a life of shame even as their married lovers continue with their careers (and often their marriages), for the insatiable appetite we have for every last detail, for the ease and speed with which we stop seeing people as multilayered humans. It’s the sort of book that invites us to examine our long-held beliefs and perceptions.… It has a heart. And a spine. It’s exactly, I would argue, what we need more of right now.
Chicago Tribune
 

Another charming and funny winner by the author of the 2014 best seller The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, about a woman at midlife confronting, along with her mom and daughter, a sex scandal from her youth.
AARP


[A] satisfying and entertaining story of reinvention and second chances.… Jane’s story is in the end less about political scandal and more about gaining strength and moving on from youthful missteps.
Publishers Weekly


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.  —Julie Kane, Washington & Lee Lib., Lexington, VA
Library Journal


Splendid.… A witty, strongly drawn group of female voices tells Aviva’s story.… [Zevin] has created a fun and frank tale. Her vibrant and playful writing… bring the story a zestful energy, even while exploring dark themes of secrecy and betrayal.
Booklist


[The] novel reinvents the familiar story more cleverly and warmly than one would have thought possible.… This book will not only thoroughly entertain…; it is the most immaculate takedown of slut-shaming…anywhere. Cheers, and gratitude, to the author.
Kirkus Reviews

Discussion Questions
We'll include publisher questions if and when they're available; in the meantime, consider using our LitLovers talking points to help start a discussion for Young Jane Young … then take off on your own:

1. Young Jane Young, of course, is inspired by the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky scandal. How much do you remember about that ordeal — if you lived through it as an adult. If you were too young, what have you gleaned about it over the years, what has been passed down to you? You might start off your discussion by watching the Monica Lewinsky TED talk.

2. Follow-up to Question 1: What are the parallels between this novel and the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal?

3. How much does the power factor play into the Aviva/Levin: an older, more experienced male and a younger woman who is his subordinate? Should that be a consideration in blaming or absolving Aviva?

4. How would you describe the scandal that follows Aviva's affair with Levin? Why is the fallout always much greater for the woman than for the man, even though, in this case (as in so many), he's the married party? What does the unequal treatment suggest about society's mores?

5. Of the four women's sections, which do you engage with the most? Talk about how each section twists and turns the event, viewing it from a different angle. Consider Aviva's mother and, especially the Congressman's wife. How does each woman see the affaur?

6. What do you make of Ruby? Do you find her reaction to her mother's past understandable …or unbelievable?

7. What do you make of the "choose you own adventure" section?

8. Can a woman choose not to be shamed by all the "slut-shaming"

9. Does the digital age make public outrage more vitriolic today than it did back, say, 20-30 years ago? Consider that the Clinton-Lewinsky imbroglio created a media frenzy absent Twitter, smart phones, and Facebook.

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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