Jackpot Summer season by Elyssa Friedland

In Elyssa Friedland’s new novel, Jackpot Summer season, the Jacobson siblings are thrust right into a whirlwind of drama, laughter, and sudden challenges after they win a life-changing lottery prize. Anticipating their chaotic lives to magically remodel right into a fairy story of luxurious and ease, the siblings shortly uncover that cash can’t repair every thing—in actual fact, it would simply make issues worse.

Raised by frugal mother and father who taught them to worth each greenback, the Jacobson youngsters are well-acquainted with scrimping and saving. Their mom reused tea luggage and refused to pay retail, whereas their father drilled budgeting into their heads earlier than they even realized to trip bikes. But regardless of their thrifty upbringing, the siblings’ grownup lives are a far cry from monetary stability or private satisfaction. They’re every grappling with their very own struggles: Matthew is caught in a soul-crushing company regulation job, eager for extra time together with his son; Laura’s marriage is falling aside in spectacular vogue; Sophie’s once-promising artwork profession has stalled whereas her boyfriend’s success overshadows her; and Noah, the youngest, continues to be attempting to get his life collectively, scraping by doing tech restore.

The siblings reunite at their Jersey Shore childhood dwelling, which their newly widowed father has determined to promote. Confronted with the bittersweet process of packing up their previous, the Jacobsons carry with them the emotional baggage of their current. When Noah, at all times chasing a fast repair, suggests shopping for a lottery ticket for a Powerball drawing, his sisters reluctantly agree. Matthew, the pragmatic lawyer, opts out—however destiny has different plans, and the siblings hit the jackpot.

What ought to have been a dream come true shortly turns right into a nightmare because the sudden inflow of money brings simmering rivalries and buried secrets and techniques to the floor. With their father off enjoying pickleball in a Florida retirement neighborhood and their mom not round to maintain the peace, the as soon as close-knit siblings discover themselves drifting additional aside, every in search of solace in costly toys and non permanent pleasures fairly than in one another.

Friedland’s portrayal of the Jacobson siblings is each hilarious and heart-wrenching, capturing the messiness of household life with wit and heat. She skillfully navigates the complexities of sibling dynamics, displaying how deeply entrenched roles and resentments can fester and flare when examined by life’s challenges—or, on this case, a sudden windfall. The novel delves into the concept wealth is not only a matter of {dollars} and cents however of emotional connection, understanding, and the bonds that tie households collectively.

Because the story unfolds, the Jacobsons study that cash can not purchase happiness, nor can it heal the injuries of the previous. Their makes an attempt to fill the void with materials possessions solely serve to spotlight the true situation: with out one another, they’ll by no means really feel actually wealthy. It’s solely after they start to confront their particular person struggles and are available collectively as a household that they begin to discover the contentment they have been looking for all alongside.

Jackpot Summer season is a pleasant, laugh-out-loud exploration of household, cash, and the myths we inform ourselves about what it means to achieve success. Friedland’s sharp, relatable storytelling and her eager eye for the absurdities of life make this a must-read for anybody who has ever dreamed of profitable the lottery—or realized that the true prize lies not in what you should purchase, however within the individuals who follow you thru thick and skinny. Because the Jacobson siblings study, generally the best fortune is having a household to climate the storms of life with—even when that household is sophisticated, messy, and under no circumstances the picture-perfect picture they could have hoped for.