Book review: The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson

Jenny Jackson’s debut, Pineapple Street was about New York royalty having a – for them – troubled time, and was written with enough deftness and wit to prompt me to make a tentative comparison between Jackson and Jane Austen. Her sophomore effort shifts its focus to the fictional New England town of Greenhead and a group of affluent friends in early middle age living through a – for them – troubled time. Does it have deftness and wit? Yes, but less. Would it still appeal to an Austen fan looking for a new novel to read? Yes, but less.

Caroline Lash is the only daughter of a literary powerhouse, looking to make her own way as a writer. After publishing a story in The New Yorker and having an ill-fated fling with a hotshot literary agent potentially using her to secure her mother as a client, Caroline quits her job in publishing, wins a fellowship by the estate of fictitious author Palmer Preston, heads to his hometown of Greenhead, MA, and promptly falls in love.

The object of her affection is Van Whitaker, environmental scientist and all-round good-egg. Van falls for Caroline too. But despite being basically perfect, there are two downsides to Van. One: he’s part of a friend group that have been together since school and who immediately revert to acting like teenagers whenever they’re together. Two: just before getting with Caroline, he knocked up his long-term friend-with-benefits who is keeping the baby but avowedly has no interest in setting up house with Van.

Predictably, having a baby changes the way Van and Bailey see things. Caroline can’t compete with a newborn. And, as a scorned writer who’s never mastered the art of making things up, Caroline takes her vengeance in the only way she knows – by writing a thinly veiled tell-all exposing the group’s secrets and follies to the world.

Jackson fleshes out the Caroline-Van-Bailey triangle by alternating chapters showing us the lives of each of the group’s female characters, all of whom have to deal with crises of money, family, or romance. The trouble is that while the novel needs these other characters to give it heft and nuance, and while Jackson does give each of the women some good lines and recognisable development, she just doesn’t make us care that much about them. They’re neither funny enough nor moving enough to resonate deeply, and this ultimately weakens the power of the central relationships such that we end up caring less than we need and want to about them too. Oh, and for some reason Jackson loves the speaker tag ‘snickered’, which I just can’t get behind.

The Shampoo Effect is not bad. And if, like me, you enjoyed Pineapple Street, you’ll find enough to enjoy this too. But if you haven’t read Pineapple Street, read that instead.

The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson is published by Viking.