Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin: Do You Want to be a Part of the Culture that Shames Women?

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Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge feminist and super into politics. I interned for both Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and for Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. I also was not alive when the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal broke. So, because of that, I feel like I have a unique perspective. I have never seen Monica Lewinsky the way so many people did-and still do: a slut, a whore, a homewrecker, etc. I have always seen her as a woman who made some bad decisions, but was a victim far more than a perpetrator. She was the victim of internet trolls, yes, but she was also the victim of power imbalance: her boss, the married PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, began a sexual relationship with her. It may have been consensual, but in the case of the President, he participated in a profound abuse of power that only now is our society finally beginning to recognize. So. I've always felt bad for Monica Lewinsky; as the woman in the relationship, her name has been dragged through the mud for the last 20+ years and forever tainted, while the man in the relationship walked away stain-free. And that's what Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin is about: a political sex scandal told through women's eyes.

Aviva Grossman was a young congressional intern when she had an affair with her boss, a well-known congressman. When news of the scandal breaks, her name is so tainted that the only way she can get a job is if she changes her name. So she does, to Jane Young. And now, years later, Jane is running for public office herself.

I loved this book and completely recommend it! It combines two of my favorite things: politics and feminism, molds them together, and puts it into a book. Although the book is a short and quick read (there's even a section that mimics the format of a Choose Your Own Adventure novel) it's packed with content that will really make you think. Obviously, this book is also incredibly relevant, what with the #MeToo and Time's Up movements. What is so interesting about this novel is we follow multiple perspectives, all of the women. We follow Aviva/Jane's mother, Rachel; Aviva in the past and Jane in the present; Jane's daughter, Ruby; and the Congressman's wife, Embeth. We never once hear from the perspective of a male character, which works to make the book even more unique. 

At its core, this is not a book about politics. It's a book about feminism. It's about slut-shaming. It's a book about women. It's a book about how we are part of a culture that perpetually shames women. And I hope that anyone who picks up this book, male AND female, will come away from it asking themselves the following question: do I want to be a part of, do I want to be complicit in, a culture that shames women?

Rating: 5/5 Stars

XOXO,

Isabella

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