Mary Jane

Jimmy is a rock star in his thirties who bleaches his hair white and sports a few tattoos to augment his bad-boy image. He is also addicted to drugs and sex and has come to the Cone house to treat these problems. The musician is warm-hearted and kind to both Mary Jane and Izzy. Although he adores his wife, Jimmy is charismatic and attractive to women. Because of his difficult upbringing, he has trouble saying no to women who want to sleep with him. Even though he has an open marriage with Sheba, this issue creates tension when Beanie seduces him.

Jimmy’s biggest problem is heroin addiction. His relapse while at the Cone house precipitates a major fight with Sheba. Through his therapy with Richard, Jimmy realizes that he hates being a celebrity and simply wants to make music. He uses drugs to help him cope with all the unwanted adulation and to calm himself down. By the end of the story, Jimmy overcomes his addictions and records a new album. As an act of gratitude for Mary Jane’s care during his recovery, he writes a song in her honor that climbs to the top of the pop music charts.

Sheba is a beautiful TV star with long black hair who is married to Jimmy. His addictions have taken a toll on their marriage, and she tries to support him through his recovery by remaining incognito in the Cone house. As the story unfolds, we learn that Sheba has her own problems. Her mother was emotionally abusive, favoring Sheba’s two brothers instead. The star also began performing at a very early age and never had the chance to experience a normal life.

During her time in hiding with Jimmy, Sheba realizes that she craves the public's admiration to compensate for her mother’s belittling attitude. Despite her personal demons, Sheba is kind and helps Mary Jane sort out her growing pains. By the novel’s end, Sheba’s marriage to Jimmy is on stronger ground, and she sends a cassette recording of Jimmy’s song to Mary Jane to let her know how much she helped the couple during their summer at the Cone house.

Dr. Cone is a psychiatrist who runs a practice for recovering addicts in his home office. He is Izzy’s father and Bonnie’s husband. Richard is friendly and open but maintains an emotionally detached attitude to better treat his patients, who are usually in crisis. Unlike the rest of the novel’s characters, Richard is Jewish by birth, though his beliefs border agnosticism. Richard’s religious affiliation creates problems just the same. Bonnie’s parents didn’t want their daughter to marry a person of his faith. Similarly, Mary Jane’s parents belittle anyone who is Jewish.

During his college years, Richard played the guitar in a rock band. It was this trait that initially attracted Bonnie. Unfortunately, his choice of a conventional career in psychiatry eventually leads to his wife’s desire to divorce him. To his credit, Richard remains on amicable terms with Bonnie and stays close to Izzy too. His understanding nature is part of why Mary Jane learns to accept herself.

Bonnie is a red-haired woman with a flamboyant personality. She loves her daughter dearly but is hopelessly disorganized. As Richard’s wife and Izzy’s mother, she doesn’t take her domestic duties seriously. She doesn’t enjoy cooking, so the family frequently eats takeout food until Mary Jane arrives. In many ways, Bonnie is an aging flower child who wants to live without any rules or restrictions.

When Sheba and Jimmy come to stay for the summer, Bonnie realizes how much she hates the suburban housewife role she assumed when she married Richard. She longs for the wealth and fame that Sheba possesses and wishes she had married a musician like Jimmy rather than the calm, rational Richard.

At the novel’s end, Bonnie seeks a divorce and moves Izzy and herself into a more modest house in a less pretentious neighborhood. She remains on friendly terms with her ex-husband and welcomes Mary Jane and Mrs. Dillard as guests in her new home.

Izzy is the effervescent, red-haired, five-year-old daughter of Richard and Bonnie. She is open to all that life can teach her and forms a quick emotional attachment to her new nanny, Mary Jane. Izzy’s open and generous personality helps to bring Mary Jane out of her shell. The little girl is equally friendly to the celebrity couple who are her parents’ houseguests for the summer.

Izzy is bright and imaginative, thinking that a witch is haunting her home but that this ghost can be thwarted if Izzy closes her bedroom door. The girl is also interested in cooking and becomes Mary Jane’s helper in preparing the family dinners. Even though her world changes dramatically with her parents’ divorce, Izzy is resilient. She maintains her affection for Mary Jane, and the latter keeps in contact with her. Izzy is also the first person in Mary Jane’s life to say “I love you.”

Mrs. Dillard is Mary Jane’s strict, conservative mother. She is an attractive, blond woman who works hard to maintain a perfect home and perfect image at the local country club. Mrs. Dillard is extremely concerned about social status and doesn’t want her daughter to do anything that might generate gossip. Because she views Mary Jane as a child, she never gives her any real responsibility in the kitchen. Her daughter is meant to be her helper and doesn’t get a chance to experiment or explore what her real talents might be.

Mrs. Dillard shows a minor interest in music by playing the guitar for her Sunday school class and listening to show tunes. Otherwise, she has little knowledge of popular music. She is also prejudiced against people of color and those of the Jewish religion. A strict Presbyterian, Mrs. Dillard ensures that the family attends weekly religious services. Although she is shocked and horrified by her daughter’s association with a rock musician and a TV star, she eventually begins to appreciate Mary Jane’s skills and talents. By the novel’s end, she demonstrates that she is proud of Mary Jane by learning all the words to the song Jimmy wrote about her.

Mr. Dillard is Mary Jane’s father, and he is even more emotionally distant than his wife. A lawyer by trade, he takes little interest in domestic matters and prefers to read his paper through dinner while his wife and daughter chat. His only other interest in life is golf, which he plays at his country club. Like his wife, he is prejudiced against anyone who isn’t of his race, religion, or social status. Mr. Dillard prevents his daughter from continuing her job for the Cones after he learns about their unconventional lifestyle. Unlike his wife, his attitude doesn’t change by the novel’s end. He remains as judgmental of the rest of the world as ever.