Fourteen-year-old Mary Jane Duer grows up in a strictly conservative, religious household in 1970s Baltimore. When she takes a summer job as a nanny for the daughter of a local psychiatrist, she enters a chaotic home life that contrasts with her mother’s rigid expectations. The household secretly hosts a rock star and his movie-star wife as the musician undergoes holistic addiction treatment. Mary Jane organizes the family’s cluttered lives through cleaning and cooking while absorbing the counterculture influences of folk music, group therapy, and bohemian fashion.
This novel serves readers who enjoy coming-of-age stories centered on the tension between traditional family values and the liberation of the 1970s. Historical fiction enthusiasts will recognize the cultural shift from mid-century repression to experimental living. Readers gain a perspective on how exposure to diverse lifestyles can broaden a teenager’s sense of self without requiring a total rejection of their upbringing. It offers a detailed look at domestic domesticity meeting artistic rebellion.
Balanced in tone; an easy read.
Best for readers like The Story Seeker. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 2021
- Language
- EN
