A review by paperprivateer
Adventures of Mary Jane by Hope Jahren

adventurous dark emotional inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

 Mary Jane Guild goes on an unpredictable, emotional journey down the Mississippi River where she puts her skills at mathematics and knowledge of diseases to work in pre-Civil War times. When her aunt writes to her mother indicating things aren’t well at home, Mary Jane is sent to be the help her aunt’s family. On the way, she encounters unfriendly and friendly characters who teach her about what life is life for a variety of people in the time. 
 
I haven’t read The Adventures in Huckleberry Finn in many years, so I went into this with no expectations other than vague associations that had more to do with Tom Sawyer than anything to do with Mary Jane. After I finished Adventures of Mary Jane, I looked up some summaries just to catch up what I may have missed from the reading. Although my Mark Twain advanced knowledge was a sparse, Mary Jane’s story could stand on its own and still interprets a few of the events in Huck Finn’s story in interesting ways. 
 
In a lot of ways, this book could function as an introductory guide to the kind of people you might find along the Mississippi River. About halfway through, I joked that I would eat my Kindle if Mary Jane *didn’t* encounter a Jewish person by the end of the book (she did) because it seemed like we were going through a checklist of people Mark Twain himself didn’t have high opinions of. 
 
The characters she encounters are a mix of people — genuinely good, truly bad, Christian, slaves, native, abolitionists, ship captains, Mormons, Jews, criminals, lawmakers, swindlers… I can’t remember them all. They all paint a colorful tapestry of people and ideas. The author describes these with varying characteristics of good and bad. As a Mormon myself, I got immediately worried when a pastor and his wife started describing Mormon people. Knowing Mark Twain’s opinion of Mormons, I was a little worried about what the book would contain. In fact, I was surprisingly pleased to see her historically accurate and kind portrayal of a religious people who were misunderstood then (and now). From what I can tell, Jahren’s handling of all the people of the time was well-researched, often taken from diaries or otherwise based on real people, and fair, although part of me did feel like the author was, in a way, trying to apologize for Twain’s negative opinions of many of these people Mary Jane encounters. 
 
My biggest problem with the book is I’m not entirely sure who it is for. Mary Jane comes across as somewhat naive at times and overly optimistic, like something of an Anne of Green Gables meets Pollyanna traveling along the Mississippi. No matter who she encounters or what she faces, she’s always looking for the good in people and handling things far better than many adults would. Her relentless charm makes it seem like the book is for younger readers, but at the same time, some dark events would make me hesitant to recommend this book with no reservations to a general audience. Some of the events were jarring in the face of the character’s attitude. The way some characters described slaves made me feel physically ill, and a sexual assault was described in some detail about what had occurred. The book seems too young for a lot of young adult readers, but too old for middle grade because of that content. 
 
There’s a decent amount of wanting to be the hero of the day (or, in one case, white saviorism) that could feel a little glaring. I imagine it’s hard to write a book that deals with topics like slavery and address modern sensibilities, and Mary Jane came across as a little too young and naive in her approach to it. Between that and the different types of characters showcased, the book occasionally has a preachy aspect to it that some readers may not enjoy. 
 
Overall, I highly enjoyed this adventure. None of the characters are perfect, and the plot is just like an adventure with twists and turns and a new person to meet around every corner. In spite of the variety of characters and topics, I felt swept up in the story with every page. The story is full of happiness and sadness, adventures and courage, and so much more. While the “preachiness” and somewhat aggressive good attitude of the main character may be difficult for some readers to get past, I found the book to be a well-researched adventure worth reading. 
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