A story of female unity that transcends generations. Based on the true story of the Jane Collective, an illegal underground abortion service, Looking For Jane reimagines the fraught battle for reproductive rights and the women who demanded the right to choose.
“Just tell them you’re looking for Jane…”
1960
It starts with a phone call, with someone looking for Jane. They are put through to Dr Evelyn Taylor, a member of the Jane Network who provides safe but illegal abortions. No names are exchanged. No identities are revealed. And no one knows Evelyn is still traumatised by being forced to give her own baby up for adoption years before. Now, despite harrowing police raids and the constant threat of arrest, Evelyn is determined to give other women the choice she never had.
1970
A doctor once told Nancy Mitchell that if she ever found herself ‘in a position’ she should find Jane. Now, positive pregnancy test in hand, Nancy starts her search. Soon she’s the newest volunteer for the Jane Network, desperately trying to help others while family secrets threaten everything she knows to be true.
2020
Angela Creighton finds a letter containing a life-shattering confession. In her search for the recipient, she discovers a book about the Jane Network by Dr Evelyn Taylor. Contacting the author, Evelyn realises Angela and her mysterious letter might hold the key to providing her the closure she’s been searching decades for.
Spanning decades, Evelyn, Nancy, and Angela’s lives intertwine to reveal the devastating consequences that come from a lack of choice, and the buried truths that will always find a way to the surface…
(P) 2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited
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Reviews
Looking for Jane is a beautifully written meditation on the lengths mothers will go to for their children as well as an eye-opening history of women. It is an ode to the doctors, nurses, and volunteers who fought for the rights of future generations to have a say over their bodies. This gracefully entwined story of three generations of women, societal mores, and mothers and daughters stole my heart
Heather Marshall shines a spotlight on the unsettling truths and heartbreaking realities faced by women of every generation. Looking for Jane is a compelling, courageous must-read about motherhood and choice
A fascinating and compelling story peopled with strong, brave women who had me cheering them on and moved to tears