Jenny Jackson stopped by the Today show to discuss her latest novel with Jenna Bush Hager and Sheinelle Jones.
Jackson’s The Shampoo Effect, published by Pamela Dorman/Viking last month, is the July pick for Hager’s Today show book club. The novel follows Caroline Lash, a writer who wins an 18-month-long residency in a Massachusetts beach town. She meets and develops feelings for a man named Van Whittaker, who learns that his ex-girlfriend is pregnant with his child. A critic for Kirkus wrote of the book, “This easy read combines a literary rom-com with an acute portrait of midlife among millennials.”
Hager asked Jackson where the idea for her novel came from.
“I grew up in New England in a tiny little beach town called Ipswich, and it was the home of the famous American writer John Updike,” Jackson said. “And also, we’re all big fans of the [New England] Patriots. I remember we were all kind of obsessed when Tom Brady had a baby with Bridget Moynahan while he was dating Gisele [Bündchen]. So somehow, these two ideas became a novel about a friend group.”
Jones asked Jackson why she decided to write about characters who aren’t perfect.
“My last book was about family relationships, and I think one of the magical, lucky things about family is that those relationships are unconditional,” Jackson responded. “Friendship doesn’t really work the same way, right? You tell them your secrets. They know you so deeply, but at any moment, your friends can say, ‘OK, that’s it, we’re not friends anymore.’ So the stakes are so high with these old friendships, and I wanted to see what happens when some secrets come up. Can these friendships withstand these challenges?”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
