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A review by jenbsbooks
Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall
4.25
I thought this was a really good book. Listened to the audio (borrowed from the library) but was able to get a KindleDoc copy too. Didn't need to turn to it, but glad to have it and will likely glance at the book again. I probably should have been more in the text with some highlights and notes.
Abortion is a main topic here ... this probably isn't the best book for anyone with super strong pro-life feelings or triggers. I thought everything was handled well, and fairly, although this definitely is a pro-choice perspective. It never really addressed the super tough cases (how late into a pregnancy would they terminate?) and while not every case was black and white (some more just for convenience, but even when it wasn't rape or the life of the mother in danger, it IS a huge thing for these women) it was an interesting look at before abortion was legal ... although things have taken a step back in recent years (this was just published in 2023, although the book wraps up in 2017 in the storyline). One wonders what some of the characters would think with some of the current changes.
Present tense (although the prologue was past tense, didn't really see the prologue listed in the table of contents). Three POVs in different timelines: (1) Angela in 2017 on (2)Evelyn, starting in 1960 and (3) Nancy, starting in 1979. A single narrator in audio (Sarah Borges) which was fine as it was all 3rd person (if it's first person, I like different narrators).
"Choice" was a major political pivot point in the last couple elections in the U.S. (this book actually takes place in Canada) and I became very aware of people's perspectives on abortion - some who as so pro-life (or pro-fetus) that the mother (and the baby once born) don't seem to really matter. So many claiming that "they want to be able to abort a fully developed fetus/9-months along" ... which I've NEVER heard of that happening anywhere. The claims that Planned Parenthood encourage abortions and sell tissue ... I don't know of the truth of that, but believe there is evil on all sides. It was VERY interesting here to have the other side of that coin, that the nuns, the good and Christian home for unwed mothers, was mistreating the girls, stealing their babies and selling them. I'm sure there were good places, just as I'm sure there are clinics now that do abortions that are good.
I felt like many sides were represented ... Just as ... some spoilers here we saw some women whose lives were going to be impacted so negatively if they had to go through with a pregnancy, (Nancy and earlier, her cousin) who benefitted from an abortion, there was Evelyn and Maggie, young unwed mothers who, while likely considering abortion if it had been an option, actually wanted their babies. Then of course there is Angela, who is desperately trying to have a baby, and who was adopted herself. In the author's note, the author shares that she became pregnant while writing this book.
I thought this gave a good background into what some of the "evil abortionists" might actually been thinking and what they might have had to go through. What some of the women seeking an abortion might be thinking and what they might be going through. Again, I appreciated the author's notes (and that they were included in the audio ... they aren't always, but always should be!) telling what portions were researched and based on actual events and facts.
Abortion is a main topic here ... this probably isn't the best book for anyone with super strong pro-life feelings or triggers. I thought everything was handled well, and fairly, although this definitely is a pro-choice perspective. It never really addressed the super tough cases (how late into a pregnancy would they terminate?) and while not every case was black and white (some more just for convenience, but even when it wasn't rape or the life of the mother in danger, it IS a huge thing for these women) it was an interesting look at before abortion was legal ... although things have taken a step back in recent years (this was just published in 2023, although the book wraps up in 2017 in the storyline). One wonders what some of the characters would think with some of the current changes.
Present tense (although the prologue was past tense, didn't really see the prologue listed in the table of contents). Three POVs in different timelines: (1) Angela in 2017 on (2)Evelyn, starting in 1960 and (3) Nancy, starting in 1979. A single narrator in audio (Sarah Borges) which was fine as it was all 3rd person (if it's first person, I like different narrators).
"Choice" was a major political pivot point in the last couple elections in the U.S. (this book actually takes place in Canada) and I became very aware of people's perspectives on abortion - some who as so pro-life (or pro-fetus) that the mother (and the baby once born) don't seem to really matter. So many claiming that "they want to be able to abort a fully developed fetus/9-months along" ... which I've NEVER heard of that happening anywhere. The claims that Planned Parenthood encourage abortions and sell tissue ... I don't know of the truth of that, but believe there is evil on all sides. It was VERY interesting here to have the other side of that coin, that the nuns, the good and Christian home for unwed mothers, was mistreating the girls, stealing their babies and selling them. I'm sure there were good places, just as I'm sure there are clinics now that do abortions that are good.
I felt like many sides were represented ... Just as ... some spoilers here
I thought this gave a good background into what some of the "evil abortionists" might actually been thinking and what they might have had to go through. What some of the women seeking an abortion might be thinking and what they might be going through. Again, I appreciated the author's notes (and that they were included in the audio ... they aren't always, but always should be!) telling what portions were researched and based on actual events and facts.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion