It's a Love Story

Jane Jackson is the protagonist and first-person narrator of the novel. She is 33 years old and lives full-time in Los Angeles, California. As a child, Jane appeared in the television show Pop Rocks as the nerdy, awkward teenager, Janey Jakes. Although decades have passed since, Jane feels incapable of escaping her childhood television persona, and she remains desperate to prove herself in the film industry as an adult. This is why, for example, she is so determined to produce the True Story script. It “has given [her] this tiny ache, the sneaky kind that attaches itself to hope” and lets her believe again in the possibility of making work that’s meaningful to her (20).

Jane presents one persona to the world but feels like a different person at heart. The disparities between her external and internal versions of self partially originate from Jane’s childhood experiences. As a teenager, she was seen as an ugly, socially inept outcast. As an adult, she still struggles with these same anxieties, perpetually convinced that she’s incapable of giving and receiving love because no one appreciates the real her. Her behaviors, habits, and styling convey the difficulties she faces in