The Trouble with Lexie: A Novel

Written by Jessica Anya Blau

Narrated by Allyson Ryan

“There isn’t a human alive who can resist the charm of Jessica Anya Blau’s novels! A coming-of-age tale for the new millennium, The Trouble with Lexie is one of the most deeply enjoyable—and deeply satisfying—novels I’ve read in ages.” —Joanna Rakoff, author of My Salinger Year

From the beloved author of The Summer of Naked Swim Parties and The Wonder Bread Summer comes the jaw-dropping story of Lexie James, a counselor at an exclusive New England prep school, whose search for happiness lands her in unexpectedly wild trouble.

Lexie James escaped: after being abandoned by her alcoholic father, and kicked out of the apartment to make room for her mother’s boyfriend, Lexie made it on her own. She earned a Masters degree, conquered terrifying panic attacks, got engaged to the nicest guy she’d ever met, and landed a counseling job at the prestigious Ruxton Academy, a prep school for the moneyed children of the elite.

But as her wedding date nears, Lexie has doubts. Yes, she’s created the stable life she craved as a child, but is stability really what she wants? In her moment of indecision, Lexie strikes up a friendship with a Ruxton alumnus, the father of her favorite student. It’s a relationship that blows open Lexie’s carefully constructed life, and then dunks her into shocking situations with headline-worthy trouble.

The perfect cocktail of naughtiness, heart, adventure and humor, The Trouble with Lexie is a wild and poignant story of the choices we make to outrun our childhoods—and the choices we have to make to outrun our entangled adult lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Jun 28, 2016
• ISBN: 9780062567673

Jessica Anya Blau

Jessica Anya Blau was born in Boston and raised in Southern California. Her novels have been featured on The Today Show, CNN and NPR, and in Cosmo, Vanity Fair, Bust, Time Out, Oprah Summer Reads and other national publications. Jessica's short stories and essays have been published in numerous magazines, journals and anthologies. Jessica co-wrote the script for Love on the Run starring Frances Fisher and Steve Howey. She sometimes works as a ghost writer and has taught writing at Johns Hopkins University, Goucher College and The Fashion Institute of Technology. Jessica lives in New York. 

Reviews for The Trouble with Lexie

[shazjhb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sweet book. So much has changed in 5 years.

[dldbizacct · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Because Jessica Anya Blau writes beautifully I've given this book 3.5 stars. The story itself probably doesn't rate that high. It was a little boring at times, somewhat trite, and ended rather disappointingly, but it did have compelling elements. The main character is a young woman from a less-than-ideal background who has worked hard to overcome her past by acquiring higher education and landing a job miles away from home in an elite boarding school as a high school counselor. She is dedicated, talented, and seemingly popular among her students and colleagues, and has carved out a comfortable life for herself that includes good friends and a fiance. But the normalcy and stability she's achieved -- and craved since childhood -- may not be as satisfying as she suspected, or maybe someone with such inauspicious origins is not equipped to sustain them. Or maybe these are the excuses a person conjures in order to grant oneself permission to jump off the deep end.