Hello favorite historical fiction book of the year! I thoroughly enjoyed reading about a part of history that I knew nothing about. Loved the characters and the chapters kept me wanting to hurriedly read more, anxious to learn more. Thank you for the opportunity to read this e-galley.

I absolutely loved this book.

It is hard hitting at times as it is about a heavily emotive topic. But the story flows and the spits in time are done so well.

There is a good resolution however some questions for me still remained which I like.
All 3 of the points of view had me engaged

Wow, what a debut. This historical fiction is beautifully written with well developed characters appropriate for the time periods they live in. While it addresses motherhood and female friendships and support networks in Canada, this draws on similar history in other nations. Heather Marshall is now on my list of authors to watch.

WOW! When an author hits a book out of the park it can be hard to come up with thoughts as to why it was so great. The multiple timeline approach provided Marshall with the means to explore the beginning of the Jane network, the struggles to have a choice, and the consequences of choices made. A woman's right to choose has always been at the forefront of conversation and the publication of this book on the heels of the reversal of Roe vs. Wade was especially timely. The audiobook was fantastic!

I seriously regret sitting on this ARC for so long. It may only be January, but I know that this one is making my top of 2024 list.

I loved the dual timelines of this book. Angela in present times, struggling with fertility, attempts to do a good deed. Learning about the home for unwed mothers that Evelyn and Maggie ended up and what that they had to endure tugged on the heart strings.

Reading about the risks that the Janes took to help women in need makes me think that I would have wanted to do what they did. If we ever get to a point where something like this needs to happen again (please don’t ever let it be something we have to do again), I would want to take that risk.

I seem to be fascinated with the abortion rings pre Roe v. Wade. I want to find more books like this one and All You Have to do is Call.

Thank you @netgalley and @atriabooks for my ARC of this one.

For readers of historical fiction, queer reads, women's fiction, mysteries and coming to age novels.

2017: Angela Creighton runs her own antique store in Toronto, which she took over after her aunt retired . One day she finds a letter in an antique cabinet in the store.The letter is posted seven years ago and addressed to someone named Nancy Mitchell, who apparently has lived above the store many years ago. There were two letters in the envelope. The first letter that Angela read revealed that Nancy had been adopted and was written by the mother that had adopted Nancy. The second letter was written by Nancy’s biological mother. It revealed that her biological mother had not wanted to give her up, that she would continue to look for her everyday of her life, that she had named her Jane and that she had knitted the yellow booties for her. After reading the two letters, Angela is determined to find Nancy to give her the letters that belong to her.

Back in 1971, Evelyn Taylor is send to St.Agnes Home for fallen wome after she became accidentally pregnant. The home is run by nuns who are very strict and who treat the residents as prisoners , and who have to give up their newborn babies up for adoption children for adoption against their will. The home is secretly selling the babies for large sums of money to "rich Christian families', while they tell some of the young women their baby has died.
Evelyn never recovers from the trauma of having lost her child so early in life due to the forced adoption. She becomes a doctor and joins the secret undercover Jane network, to help young women who are in the same difficult position she once was, avd helps them getting an abortion, which was against the law at that time period. Women can call members of the secret network , and have to ask for 'Jane', a code word. Her doctors practice, and is raided by police many times, once even secretly by a undercover police officer pretending to be a women who needs an abortion. And the members of the Jane network have to change locations many times, but are persistent to continue their work untill the law changes and abortion becomes legal.Evelyn is determined to give wonen the choice she never had..

Nancy is pregnant in her early twenties in 1980 and has an illegal abortion in the office of doctor Evelyn Taylor who was risking her freedom and career in order to provide a choice for women. Nancy soon becomes part of the medical yet illegal network to keep girls and women away from dangerous back-alley sham abortions. Her grandmother was in a nursing home and Nancy usually visited with her once a week. On one such visit, Nancy’s grandmother made a comment that made no sense to her. Her grandmother had indicated that her parents had not brought her home from the hospital after her birth but had gotten her from somewhere. Nancy had always suspected that she might have been adopted but never knew for sure. She did not look like either one of her parents and her mother was so overprotective of her. One night when Nancy’s parents were out for the evening, Nancy started snooping around to find the proof she needed. Locked away in a box in the back of one her mother’s drawers, Nancy found a note from her biological mother and a pair of yellow booties. That was all the proof that Nancy needed but she never found the right moment to confront her parents and ask them to tell her the truth.

In the end, the lives of the three women come together, abd this leads to a dramatic revelation of dr Evelyn of her past , and how she escaped the St.Agnes home, that is immediately linked to Nancy.

This is a book that completely blows you away. What a fantastic debut novel by Heather Marshall, which i hope will write more books like this. The storyline is fenomenal. The three main characters that don't know each other but are linked because of the past. The three character where all in their own way brilliant.
What struck me the most was dr.Evelyn's past in the St.Agnes home. Its hart to imagine that those institutions truly existed , and what horrors those young women had to endure. The parts where the operations of the Jane network where mindblowing, especially the scene with the undercover cop that hold dr Evelyn avd her staff at gunpoint.This was just so tragic , avd i was happy for the Jane's when abortion became legal..this is all set against a historic Canadian time period, based on historic facts.
I can't say enough how much i love this book with these three super strong ladies as main characters, I highly recommend reading Looking for Jane !!!!

Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall was a heartwrenching novel about women and choices. My heart broke and I had to put it down several times. Well written and hopeful that we won’t repeat the past.
Thanks Atria Books via NetGalley.

Between 1945 and 1971 Canada recorded almost 600,000 babies born to unmarried women. It is estimated that over 300,000 of those babies were adopted against the mothers wishes. The women were herded into a legal, for profit, maternity home system where they were basically treated as chattel. That's 12,000 women giving birth to babies each month on average. The numbers here in the United States were undoubtably higher.

Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall follows the lives of two of these women exploring, with no holds barred, the impact on not only their lives but on their children as well. Most incredibly, Looking for Jane provides an honest fictional accounting of an underground abortion network where a pregnant woman could seek a safe, but illegal abortion by calling a participating doctor's office and asking for Jane. The doctors, nurses, and numerous volunteers risked their livelihoods, possible imprisonment, and even their lives to support women's right to control their own bodies.

It is by fortuidous coincidence that the publication of Looking for Jane coincided with the striking down of Roe v. Wade in the United States. I hope it will inspire more people to stand up and be counted. Don't miss the illuminating author's notes.

I received a drc from the publisher via NetGalley. Many thanks.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

This is the second historical fiction book I've read this year that focused on underground abortion access, and while both were excellent, this one had a much deeper emotional impact for me personally. It was an incredibly well rounded look at not just abortion, but all of the paths to (and out of) parenthood and the resonating impacts on individuals and groups. It reaffirms that everyone needs to be able to make choices that are deeply personal for themselves, and have access to the support needed to do so, but it's not a pedantic story in the least.

// 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 - 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐞 //

Rating: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
Genre: Historical Fiction

𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝑰𝒇 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆:
👱🏻‍♀️ Women’s Rights
♥️ Emotional Reads
⏳ Dual Timeline
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Multigenerational Story

𝑶𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔
I’m going to keep my review on this brief because this book covers a hot political topic and I like to keep my booksta free from politics as much as possible as it is my happy place!

𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘑𝘢𝘯𝘦 is really a story about motherhood - about women who want to be and also don’t want to be mothers. It follows women who for various reasons find themselves with an unplanned pregnancy. One woman is forced by her family to put her child up for adoption and lives with the emotional toll of giving up a child she really wanted to keep. One woman seeks out an illegal abortion that nearly cost her life. Another woman fights for the right for women to choose what happens to their own body. And the stories continue on with more accounts and experiences women in between.

I think no matter where you sit around the abortion fence, this is an emotional read about women’s health and rights, about being a mother, the choice in becoming one. This book definitely is “pro-choice,” but I think even if you are “pro-life”, it offers a unique and historically based account of the emotional toll and often emotional trauma for women who chose either adoption, abortion, or plan to be a mother. You’ll feel a large number of emotions from love to sadness to rage. For a debut novel, this author really did a fantastic job and I think is going to be an author to watch for! Highly recommend you read the authors note on this one if you choose to pick it up. #ipreview via @preview.app

This book was so powerful and emotional I will be adding this to my top reads for 2023! What’s also amazing and shocking is that it’s based on true stories.
The books follows three different woman in different decades of the 20th century.
2017- We meet Angela who uncovers a letter in some forgotten mail at her antique shop. The letter when she opens reveals a shocking secret she knows she needs to find the owner of the letter. During this time Angela and her wife are trying desperately to have a child and their having complications. While trying to find the letters owner she stumbles into the past of The Jane Network.
1971- We meet Dr. Evelyn Taylor as a teenager she was sent to a home for unwed mothers that was run by nuns. She was disowned by her parents and then had her baby taken from her and adopted. At the hands of the nuns she suffered trauma and abuse. She soon makes its her life’s mission to help woman who become pregnant the access to a safe abortion, too many woman are dying from men who are giving back alley abortions. She finds herself part of The Jane Network and she experiences police raids, arrests and protests.
1980- We meet Nancy Mitchell when she uncovers a family secret Nancy finds her life turned upside down. When Nancy finds out she’s pregnant she doesn’t know where to turn. She locates the Jane Network and meets Dr. Evelyn Taylor. After her abortion Nancy decides to help the Jane Network and she finds a place next to Dr. Taylor helping the many woman in need.
I cannot explain how much this book affected me and opened my eyes even more. Please know there are some triggers, abuse, rape, suicide. I’m giving this book five stars . This book is so important to read especially right now where we continue to fight to have power over our own bodies.

Such a timely and important read. Will make you think and also realize the huge importance of the freedom of being able to make a choice, your own choice, that’s right for you with no interference from others. Recommended

Wow! This book blew me away. It it heartbreaking and enlightening. Being adopted myself and never knowing my birth mom was ok for me. After 69 years my 6 half siblings found me and it is very overwhelming. So, as you can see I can definitely relate to this book. I like the fact that the author explains at the end that the book is not about abortion, it is about wanting to me a mother or not wanting to be a mother. That is a great analogy. Everything starts with a letter found ten years after the post date from a mother to her daughter that she was forced to give up for adoption. So the story begins. I never realized how bad the "homes" for unwed mothers actually were. The author does a great job describing the heartbreak of being forced to give up your child. The characters in the book were very well developed and very relatable to. There is a lot of social issues in this book. Besides illegal abortions, there is the Roe v Wade and the author has characters that gave a child up for adoption, had an abortion and there feelings about all that happened to them. The lives of the characters intertwine and that little plot twist at the end was spectacular. I would highly recommend this book.
Thanks to #netgalley, #atriabooks and @heathermarshallauthor for an arc of this book.

While I would consider Looking for Jane historical fiction, it is hauntingly accurate to what women are once again having to face in the post-roe era. Looking for Jane was excellently written, the characters are relatable and the story will break your heart while also opening your eyes at the same time.
Looking for Jane will give you hope for the future, that while we are here again fighting for our rights to our bodies, there are women who will do what they have to to help protect other women.
This is a book and story that will stick with me for a long time.

𝓛𝓸𝓸𝓴𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓕𝓸𝓻 𝓙𝓪𝓷𝓮
🎁 📚 3.75/5 🌟
This one shines a light on a troublesome time in history exposing the horrors faced by unwed pregnant young women and their forced relinquishment of their children for profit as well as the absolutely tragedy or back alley abortions. Told through three timelines which come together with a bit of a twist and a satisfying ending.

This is the kind of novel everyone needs to read. This book takes place in several timelines, none of which are in this decade, and yet here we are today moving back to those days, and it's not good. Story does a great job of explaining what the abortion laws were like in Canada, similar to ours. All the characters were well-developed and the story moved along well. I was surprised at the big twist - didn't see that coming at all! - and was very happy with the ending.

If you cannot understand each woman's point of view, and why this is an important book and topic, go back and read it until you do.

This was the author's first novel and I look forward to future books!

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to read and review this book. All opinions expressed are mine and freely given.

This was such a thought-provoking tearjerker of a novel. I loved the dual timelines. Both perspectives were incredibly powerful and I clung to the page sobbing while reading it. Though set in Canada the issues are universal, and more relevant than ever in the United States.

Looking For Jane really resonated with me because at the heart of this novel is a mother’s love. The story follows three different women and told in three different narratives and hits on the hard topics of abortion and a woman having a right to choose. Such a poignant novel for the times, it was well written and the multiple viewpoints were well executed.