Jackpot Summer
by: Elyssa Friedland
June 11, 2024 Penguin Publishing Group
384 pages
Review by: E. Broderick
A while ago, during a late night at work, my co-workers and I began chatting about the lottery. People started listing the expensive purchases and life changes they would make if they hit it big. A large portion would quit their jobs, but I wasn’t so sure. I said I wouldn’t change my lifestyle enough for the win to be noticeable. One of the other team members agreed- stating that he would not even switch his apartment. Instead, he would simply buy a second, secret, apartment where he could enjoy cool stuff without anyone hitting him up for money. You see, he and I both knew that winning the lottery is not always all it’s cracked up to be. The Jacobson siblings in Elyssa Friedland’s novel Jackpot Summer would have benefited significantly if they had a similar conversation.
While there are four Jacobson siblings – Matthew, Laura, Sophia, and Noah – only three of them go in on lottery tickets together. Matthew, the oldest and richest of them all pre-lotto, follows his wife Beth’s advice and opts out. Boy does he learn to regret it.
His siblings quickly discover that money does not solve all problems. Laura tries to use cash to fix her broken marriage and convince her kids to come home more, but nobody likes being controlled by their purse strings. Sophie uses the money to quit her day job and create art – only to find she’s so in her head over the win she can no longer paint. Noah, the baby, who was floating around aimlessly performing tech repair before the win now has a million people calling him for money and can’t seem to find anyone interested in him for something other than a check.
Pile onto that the fact that the siblings are dealing with the fallout of three of them becoming millionaires while the fourth must still work a job he hates, and you can see how the family dynamics are strained. Plus, the matriarch who used to keep the peace passed away a year ago and their father is all but absentee parenting as her retires to Boca and whiles away his days playing pickle ball.
I found myself finding some of the financials in the book extremely dubious. We are given a realistic picture of what would actually be left for each sibling after taxes (spoiler alert – way less than the advertised jackpot) and while it is still a nice chunk of change, I find it difficult to believe it would be enough for the lifestyles described. This is especially true in the case of Laura, who buys a multi million dollar home and then sets off and numerous luxury vacations all while spoiling her college aged daughters whose tuition’s she’s paying. Ironically it is Matthew’s wife Beth, the one who refused to buy a ticket, who points out that the Jacobson’s were rich before they ever won the lottery. They had a second home on the Jersey shore growing up. They participated in extracurricular activities and their parents through neighborhood parties and charity events. Beth’s speech pointing out the privilege in all of that was one of the best parts of the book and made me forgive the wonky real estate and travel spending that should have eaten through that lotto money within months.
Each Jacobson story is unique and they all have their own lessons to learn, but together the reader comes away feeling fulfilled. I found myself sucked in to the family saga, especially as it is told with humor. My favorite part related to a certain piece of jewelry and the revelations about their deceased mother that come at the end. Because really, we all mess up from time to time, but the point is to at least try. When the siblings realize this they are able to move forward together.
Note: BookishlyJewish received an e-arc of this book from the publisher.