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Anything for Jane
This provocative, funny, perceptive novel tells the story of the trials of over-conscientious parenthood, as the devoted Braithwaites watch their bright, gifted eighteen-year-old take her disturbing initial steps toward independence, integrity–and failure.
The action is set in Morningside Heights, the Manhattan neighborhood surrounding Columbia University where the Braithwaites live in a community in which adults’ aspirations are firmly focused on the achievements of their children. Talented, troubled, and self-centered, Jane Braithwaite makes her well-meaning upper-middle-class family miserable, enmeshing them in the complicated lives of a homeless family, a poor teenager with no family, and a would-be family foundering on childlessness. When catastrophe finally threatens, all their dilemmas are resolved by the same stunning and unexpected means.
All the while, the Braithwaites involve old and new friends in their struggles–a lovesick clergyman, a lonely doctor and his baby-obsessed wife, a libertarian billionaire, a money-loving philosopher, and a hard-bitten but sexy poverty activist. Their social and political clashes provide entertainment both comic and serious.
The action is set in Morningside Heights, the Manhattan neighborhood surrounding Columbia University where the Braithwaites live in a community in which adults’ aspirations are firmly focused on the achievements of their children. Talented, troubled, and self-centered, Jane Braithwaite makes her well-meaning upper-middle-class family miserable, enmeshing them in the complicated lives of a homeless family, a poor teenager with no family, and a would-be family foundering on childlessness. When catastrophe finally threatens, all their dilemmas are resolved by the same stunning and unexpected means.
All the while, the Braithwaites involve old and new friends in their struggles–a lovesick clergyman, a lonely doctor and his baby-obsessed wife, a libertarian billionaire, a money-loving philosopher, and a hard-bitten but sexy poverty activist. Their social and political clashes provide entertainment both comic and serious.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published July 31, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
April 9, 2008
What a wonderful book. It's the third in a trilogy, Cheryl Mendelson's first fiction. I'm especially attached to the books because all three take place in Morningside Heights, my old neighborhood in New York. It's cool to read about character's eating at restaurants you've eaten at and walking down streets you've walked down. Mendelson's biggest strength is her characters. I usually don't like omniscient narratives, but Mendelson does a great job of articulating all the character's thoughts, and we come to know each of them so well. Anne Braithwaite is one of my favorite characters ever. Mendelson's writing is a pleasure to read. And she's funny. I kept laughing out loud and reading passages to my husband. She describes a bunch of Columbia students as "puppy-people"--hilarious. There's a lot of depth in these books, but it's not forced on you at all. You could read them just for fun without thinking much and still enjoy them immensely. She slips in a lot of interesting philosophical, political, and moral ideas too, but I especially love her focus on family life. The plot too was gripping. I read for five hours straight to finish, staying up too late. The ending was perhaps a bit over the top, but I loved it. Perhaps my favorite of the three books, but I loved all of them.
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November 26, 2022Lots of questions being wrestled with here. The big one is personal initiative vs institutional change. Some fake libertarians make an appearance--also some inconsistent progressive liberals. All in the context of how one family trying to do the best by their children has an effect that ripples outward for the good of their whole neighborhood and possibly the world.
November 28, 2025
She simply can't write outside her class
August 10, 2009
I’m from New York, so I love reading about it. I’ve just finished Anything for Jane, set in Upper West Side Manhattan. It’s the 3rd book of Cheryl Mendelson’s Morningside Heights trilogy. (The others were Morningside Heights, and, Love, Work, Children - this one reviewed earlier). In the trilogy, she’s followed the lives of several couples and their families in a very intimate, sort of Jane Austen (without the romance) way. Not very much happens in the stories, but you really like these people. Well, at least I did.
In Jane, Mendelson returns to the Braithwaite family who she featured in the 1st book. Charles, an opera singer, and Anne, a former concert pianist, now have four children, including Jane, their talented, tempestuous 16-year-old. They raised her to go to Julliard, expecting that she will have a brilliant singing career. Jane could care less about Julliard; instead she’s secretly arranging for auditions.
Liberal in their politics and generous in spirit, Anne and Charles allow Gabriela, their sometime maid, to stay in their spare room when Gabriela loses her apartment because of a mysterious illness. What they don’t know is that Gabriela is in charge of her brilliant 16-year-old nephew, who is left homeless by the eviction. Andres, who desperately wants to go to college, tries to keep his school work up though he has to work to feed himself, sleep at Gabriela’s boyfriend Juan’s teeny apartment a long subway ride away, and worry about his aunt’s health. Plus he lost his whole life (school work, poetry, photos and music) when he lost his computer in the eviction.
Jane meets Andres when he visits Gabriela, and soon the kids fall in love. She lets him use her mom’s computer, he tutors her in math. Soon Andres is staying at the apartment and slipping into Jane’s room.
Things come to a head when Jane calls Michael, the doctor friend of the family, because she realizes Gabriela is sicker than anyone knows. It turns out she has leukemia, and is checked into a hospital. Andres doesn’t want to pull Jane into his messy life, so he feigns indifference and breaks up with her. But that leads to a mess. Juan gets busted for selling drugs (he’s desperate for money to get Gabriela an apartment to recuperate in) while Andres is there, and Andres gets scooped up in the raid.
The Braithwaite’s family and friends rally to save Andres, but you wouldn’t believe how it all turns out. I did expect a happy ending here, which Mendelson delivers, but she went a bit out of her way. But what the heck, it was fun getting there. These upper class stuffed shirts are kind of fun to hang out with.
In Jane, Mendelson returns to the Braithwaite family who she featured in the 1st book. Charles, an opera singer, and Anne, a former concert pianist, now have four children, including Jane, their talented, tempestuous 16-year-old. They raised her to go to Julliard, expecting that she will have a brilliant singing career. Jane could care less about Julliard; instead she’s secretly arranging for auditions.
Liberal in their politics and generous in spirit, Anne and Charles allow Gabriela, their sometime maid, to stay in their spare room when Gabriela loses her apartment because of a mysterious illness. What they don’t know is that Gabriela is in charge of her brilliant 16-year-old nephew, who is left homeless by the eviction. Andres, who desperately wants to go to college, tries to keep his school work up though he has to work to feed himself, sleep at Gabriela’s boyfriend Juan’s teeny apartment a long subway ride away, and worry about his aunt’s health. Plus he lost his whole life (school work, poetry, photos and music) when he lost his computer in the eviction.
Jane meets Andres when he visits Gabriela, and soon the kids fall in love. She lets him use her mom’s computer, he tutors her in math. Soon Andres is staying at the apartment and slipping into Jane’s room.
Things come to a head when Jane calls Michael, the doctor friend of the family, because she realizes Gabriela is sicker than anyone knows. It turns out she has leukemia, and is checked into a hospital. Andres doesn’t want to pull Jane into his messy life, so he feigns indifference and breaks up with her. But that leads to a mess. Juan gets busted for selling drugs (he’s desperate for money to get Gabriela an apartment to recuperate in) while Andres is there, and Andres gets scooped up in the raid.
The Braithwaite’s family and friends rally to save Andres, but you wouldn’t believe how it all turns out. I did expect a happy ending here, which Mendelson delivers, but she went a bit out of her way. But what the heck, it was fun getting there. These upper class stuffed shirts are kind of fun to hang out with.
March 1, 2013
Anything for Jane is Cheryl Mendelson's the last installment in her Morningside Heights trilogy. While I loved the first book, Morningside Heights, and really liked Work, Love, Children, I have mixed feelings about this book. The plot is interesting and Mendelson again tackles class issues in New York City. I won't give any spoilers, but will just say that she took the story where I didn't think she would or could. I hadn't been so surprised by a book ending in quite awhile (good surprised? bad surprised?), and really had a difficult time putting this one down to, you know, sleep.
While Mendelson writes about the neighborhood I live in and love, I find her omniscient voice and detail a bit aggravating in this book. I'm not sure if her writing was less refined in this one, I cared about the characters less, or perhaps the story just couldn't carry the writing this time.
Final analysis: If you read and liked the first two in the Morningside Heights series, you should go and ahead and read it. It is nice to see old characters again, and the book was overall an enjoyable read.
While Mendelson writes about the neighborhood I live in and love, I find her omniscient voice and detail a bit aggravating in this book. I'm not sure if her writing was less refined in this one, I cared about the characters less, or perhaps the story just couldn't carry the writing this time.
Final analysis: If you read and liked the first two in the Morningside Heights series, you should go and ahead and read it. It is nice to see old characters again, and the book was overall an enjoyable read.
November 5, 2009
Just like Mendelson's last two books, I am extremely ambivalent about this trilogy of novels while at the same time I can't put them down when I'm reading them. I browsed through the critiques of her work here on GoodReads, and it's all true: she's pretentious, uses far too much psychoanalytic analysis, and is obsessed with class in a way that nobody I actually know is (and I live in NYC and I am an academic).
At the same time, I love the richness of the world that she creates and the detailed portraits of the character's lives. I gave this three stars because I think there are female characters who border on outright misogyny, and the ending is terrible. You'll know the instant you start reading Morningside Heights if this is the kind of book for you; for whatever reason, I enjoyed the whole trilogy.
At the same time, I love the richness of the world that she creates and the detailed portraits of the character's lives. I gave this three stars because I think there are female characters who border on outright misogyny, and the ending is terrible. You'll know the instant you start reading Morningside Heights if this is the kind of book for you; for whatever reason, I enjoyed the whole trilogy.
March 11, 2013
Loved this book, as I loved the other novels in Mendelson's trilogy, Morningside Heights, and Love, Work, Children. Mendelson has an old-fashioned, dryly omniscient voice with real moral heft--by which I mean she never overlooks the selfish and inconvenient desires that dodge the most well-meaning of people.
I do think Mendelson's men are more virtuous than her women (I noticed this in Love, Work, Children, too). Two of the minor characters in Anything for Jane, Adriana and Gabriela, while deserving of pity, are actively malicious. And Carla, though well-meaning, indirectly causes serious harm--she sacrifices an innocent kid in order to, as one of the (male) characters observes, "convict the system". None of the male characters, with the exception of the pompous libertarian Selvnick, exhibit the selfishness that the female characters do. Just sayin'.
I do think Mendelson's men are more virtuous than her women (I noticed this in Love, Work, Children, too). Two of the minor characters in Anything for Jane, Adriana and Gabriela, while deserving of pity, are actively malicious. And Carla, though well-meaning, indirectly causes serious harm--she sacrifices an innocent kid in order to, as one of the (male) characters observes, "convict the system". None of the male characters, with the exception of the pompous libertarian Selvnick, exhibit the selfishness that the female characters do. Just sayin'.
November 1, 2010
This is the third installment of the Morningside Heights trilogy, an entertaining series about the lives and loves of overeducated, artsy-fartsy and excruciatingly analytical residents of upper Manhattan. These are old-fashioned books with an omniscient narrator and a keen attention to social mores – a blend of Jane Austen and Woody Allen, if you will. All the books feature the same characters; this one is about the overindulged daughter of a pair of musicians and her involvement with the son of their cleaning lady. The plot gets a little outlandish toward the end, but it’s still a good read
August 24, 2010
In the vein of Anthony Trollope and equally enjoyable. Touching on large social issues like poverty and the criminal justice system, to the more mundane, such as how parents deal with grumpy teenagers; we get a peek inside the homes in Morningside Heights, Manhattan.
May 11, 2019
An engaging read. Not having read the other books in the trilogy, I enjoyed the read and appreciated the detailed, dialogical style that allowed characters to have genuine and worthwhile philosophical conversations as they reflected on their lives and practices of engaging the world, especially the socioeconomic disparity that is so evident in New York City. The novel concludes a little too smoothly, with a reminder that of course it's easier to be creative and find the life you want when you have lots of disposable wealth, but it's still satisfying to see the characters end in good spaces. It's not the read you want every day, but it's still a satisfying and worthwhile read.
July 11, 2019
My favorite family in fiction, the Braithwaites, returns with their willingness to do anything for their children, even though failure looms large. Anne is my comrade in arms, fighting to raise her children well as the demands and pressures of life seem to undo every good intention.
June 4, 2025
Last in the trio went off the rails a bit but I still love the Morningside Heights crew
August 28, 2008
Eh. This book, unbeknownst to me, is the third in a trilogy, so perhaps that's why it fell so flat - maybe the first two were better - but either way, this book had potential - a clash of cultures and wealth on the upper west side when one girl falls for a poor unfortunate boy who the system abuses - blah blah blah, ultimately the writer develops a seriously pseudo intellectual work - heavy on the psuedo, light on the intellectual - where people keep having these high brow conversations that are contrived and overblown, while the narrative will be super elementary, spelling out emotions and details that are annoying to have to read. In addition, the author is overly captivatd by her characters, can't sing their praises enough and ends up isolating her reader. I finished it, which is something, I guess, and was curious how it ended, but the ending was so stupidly neat and tidy that it wasn't really worth pushing my way through.
January 5, 2009
I was in a hurry earlier and wrote the review below. Now I'll expand it a bit.
This book is about wealthy people in Manhattan's Morningside Heights and the way their lives are changed when they have a run-in with less fortunate people. It is also about how children are raised in that particular part of NYC, as well as a condemnation of the legal system. There is a strange sub-plot dealing with libertarianism. The author has several points to make about child raising, liberal guilt, and social responsibility, among other topics. As I wrote below, she doesn't make them very subtly.
I didn't care for this book. It was agenda-driven and pseudo-philosophical, with flat characters, unbelievable speech and an unrealistic plot. The ending was too Hollywood. A good author makes meaningful statements about society's ills via a moving, believable story. This book's agenda was far too obvious.
This book is about wealthy people in Manhattan's Morningside Heights and the way their lives are changed when they have a run-in with less fortunate people. It is also about how children are raised in that particular part of NYC, as well as a condemnation of the legal system. There is a strange sub-plot dealing with libertarianism. The author has several points to make about child raising, liberal guilt, and social responsibility, among other topics. As I wrote below, she doesn't make them very subtly.
I didn't care for this book. It was agenda-driven and pseudo-philosophical, with flat characters, unbelievable speech and an unrealistic plot. The ending was too Hollywood. A good author makes meaningful statements about society's ills via a moving, believable story. This book's agenda was far too obvious.
May 8, 2011
Why everyone seems so besotted with Jane I cannot fathom, as it appears to me that she is nothing but a selfish brat who talks back to her mother and thinks she owns the world given her tendency to be a moral police. Though a good outlook on the workings of the legal system from the eyes of the wrongly-accused (and subsequently convicted), I do believe that Jane's character development was a letdown and does not justify the title of book. I was more inclined to turn the pages to read more about how Greg and Carla's relationship will survive the entire plot rather than to tear up to Jane's so-called predicaments.
March 21, 2011
I was very disappointed in this novel, because I enjoyed "Morningside Heights" and "Love, Work, Children" by the same author. Mendelson's at her best when she's describing the small world of New York City musicians, but in this book the characters felt flat and the pace glacial. I love many leisurely novels, but this one was very difficult to finish. So far "Morningside Heights" is Mendelson's best book.
January 16, 2008
It makes me sad to abandon this book, because I really did adore the first in this trilogy, Morningside Heights. And out of affection for the main characters, the Braithewaites, I made it halfway through. I do love them. And Father Greg as well. Anyway, maybe it's my mood. This book is a lot more pointedly about race and class and less a comedy of manners than the other two in the series. And that's not a bad thing, necessarily, but it didn't hold my interest strongly enough.
February 2, 2009
I really liked this book. It's the third in a series, following Morningside Heights and Love, Work, Children. It's the story of an intellectual family with four children and the story of what happens to their oldest daughter Jane. It's very well written, a great story of how other lives in this small section of the city intersect with the Braithwaites and their child Jane. Start with Morningside Heights and keep going!
January 15, 2010
Jane Braithwaite seems to have it all: eighteen, gorgeous, promising music career, adoring parents, lives in a nice neighborhood, etc. But the family’s home in Morningside Heights is full of turmoil because Jane is the moodiest, most disagreeable teenager on the planet.
What will it take to bring peace to the Braithwaite home? And who will pay the price?
With several seemingly unrelated sub-plots, quirky characters, and brainy narration, Mendelson creates an oddly compelling read.
What will it take to bring peace to the Braithwaite home? And who will pay the price?
With several seemingly unrelated sub-plots, quirky characters, and brainy narration, Mendelson creates an oddly compelling read.
January 14, 2013
2.5 stars is more like it. The book was a quick and easy read, but I had a few minor annoyances with it. I felt like some of the characters could've developed a lot better, and I felt like there were a few minor story plots that still had some loose strings once the book concluded, and the story plot in general didn't seem entirely realistic. However, this book possessed a certain quality of entertainment that made me reluctant to put the book down.
April 9, 2014
The final book in the Morningside Heights trilogy, the main plot features Jane, the Braithwaite’s oldest daughter as she goes through her senior year in high school. As always, there are a lot of peripheral stories and characters, but all are connected. The housekeeper’s nephew, Andres, was particularly interesting and rootable. Parts of the wrap-up strained credulity, but all in all, I enjoyed it. I read the first two books years ago – not sure why it took me so long to read this one.
September 18, 2007
A fun read - I liked that it mixes up the plotlines at the beginning and then they come together. Basically, it is a character study. Toward the end, I felt the quality of writing dropped off. Nonetheless, if you are interested in something easy to read and interested in upper middle class NYC life, this is a good choice.
October 8, 2008
I think I probably would have given this book four stars if I did not hate Jane. (I think the selfish teenage character may strike a little too close to home.) The ending was like the other Mendelson books, unpredictable and almost too good to be true, except this time it was borderline unbelievable. But the writing is good, the characters are awesome, and the story is interesting.
January 3, 2013
I really liked the book. Should have paid attention though, it is the last in a series of four. As of right now I am uncertain if I will go back and read the other three. So what would you do if the plans for your children turn out to be different than your own plans - being honest with yourself and your dreams . . .
July 30, 2014
One of my favorite books of the past ten years. Such a terrific sense of place in a rapidly gentrifying Manhattan neighborhood, a place I'll probably never visit. Themes of class, social justice, parenting styles, family life, rebellion and a wonderful love story. I'm looking forward to the other two books by Cheryl Mendelson in the Morningside Heights Trilogy.
March 5, 2008
This is the third of a trilogy about upper middle class parents in New York City and their children. I stumbled on this one first so now will go back and read the first two. It was thought provoking, well written.
December 9, 2008
Well-told novel of a family in Morningside Heights whose gifted, pampered lives collide with those of underprivileged Andres and his aunt Gabriela. Some of the philosophy got a little heavy-handed, with some stilted dialogue (do people really talk like that?), but I couldn’t put it down.
August 26, 2009
3.5 stars would be more accurate. I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as Love, Work, Children. I was so worried about the characters I nearly had a nervous breakdown while reading, but I wasn't sure if this was an indication of brilliant writing or emotional manipulation.
October 9, 2007
I found myself not caring a single bit what happened to the characters in this novel.
September 12, 2007
interesting account of the life of the upper class elite who think they are still middle class regular people.
Smooth to read, believable characters, liked this book.
Smooth to read, believable characters, liked this book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews