Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall

A debut about three women whose lives are bound together by a long-lost letter, a mother’s love, and a secret network of women fighting for the right to choose—inspired by true stories.

2017: When Angela Creighton discovers a mysterious letter containing a life-shattering confession, she is determined to find the intended recipient. Her search takes her back to the 1970s when a group of daring women operated an illegal underground abortion network in Toronto known only by its whispered code name: Jane.

1971: As a teenager, Dr. Evelyn Taylor was sent to a home for “fallen” women where she was forced to give up her baby for adoption—a trauma she has never recovered from. Despite harrowing police raids and the constant threat of arrest, she joins the Jane Network as an abortion provider, determined to give other women the choice she never had.

1980: After discovering a shocking secret about her family, twenty-year-old Nancy Mitchell begins to question everything she has ever known. When she unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she feels like she has no one to turn to for help. Grappling with her decision, she locates “Jane” and finds a place of her own alongside Dr. Taylor within the network’s ranks, but she can never escape the lies that haunt her.

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publication Date: March 1, 2022

My Review

This book does have some triggering content, but it is impossible to address complex social issues without ruffling feathers of some readers. Marshall presents an eye-opening glimpse into history. This is a book about being about being a woman, about motherhood, and about women supporting women. It would be easy to dismiss this as a book about abortion, but it is so much more than that.

Marshall explores everything from the Catholic homes for unmarried pregnant women to illegal abortions and adoption to in vitro fertilization, and she does so with empathy. I can see how some might be put off by this book, but no matter how you feel about reproductive rights this book is an important read for anyone who has ovaries. There is something for everyone in this book, which is why it is so powerful.