Strange and beautiful, this engrossing tale cross-crosses time and space in the voice of two intimately-voiced first-person POV narrators.

First we have Dr Henry Byrd, a psychiatrist with a traumatic past, who appears to have many secrets that may or may not intersect the world of his current patient - a woman who is quite likely the most unusual client Henry will face.

Henry’s patient, Jane O, thirty-eight years old, is suffering from the life-long effects of her prodigious and excessive memory, a phenomenon known as “Hyperthymesia”. This condition has resulted in Jane’s deep and profound “loneliness of the soul”, which may be related to her recent eerie psychological behavior - behavior that Dr Byrd soon finds to be as deeply troubling as it is unexplainable.

As Jane begins to tells her inner story via a diary written for her infant son — a backdrop that may help explain some of her current challenges — we, the reader, get a fascinating peek into her extraordinary world, -- a tale that counterbalances the (initially at least) more rationally-focused confusion of Dr Byrd.

How Jane and Henry come to resolve their respective narratives is a story well worth reading, and one that kept this reader deeply absorbed (and guessing all the way) throughout this puzzling and expertly-crafted narrative.

Without giving the plot away (no spoilers here) this is a tale that will delight explorers of the human mind — as it challenges linear thinking, dissolving the boundaries between the relationship of human identity, memory, trauma, and our mental experiences and choices — and opens the door on a world that will ask far more questions than it will answer.

A great big thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for an ARC of this mind-bending book. All thoughts presented are my own.

Jane O., is on the surface, a very ordinary woman. She lives in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn and works at the main branch of the New York Public Library in Manhattan . She is a single mother and has her child, a little boy, in a homey daycare. However, Jane is anything but ordinary . She remembers literally every fact and object she has any interest in. And, recently, she has encountered, on a busy Manhattan street, the middle aged version of a boy, Nico, she knows has committed suicide. Days later, she enters a kind of fugue state and wanders off, leaving her child at daycare. She can remember nothing of what she did, coming to in a park much later. She seeks out the services of Dr. Byrd, a psychiatrist she saw briefly as a teenager after Nico's death.

Byrd and Jane live lives that are much alike. Both are single parents; both have experienced profound loss and trauma. Jane through the suicide of Nico moments after she talked to him, Byrd, through the loss of his wife and then his job. Their story spools out, in turn, through letters written by Jane, which are to be read when he is older, and by Byrd in a case note.

This is not a traditional mystery. I thought I had figured it out a half dozen times, but I was wrong. Its ending makes perfect sense, is satisfying and ,in looking back over the course of the story, all elements are tied together. The reader is in for a good ride. Walker keeps the plot moving along like a Coney Island roller coaster, zigging and zagging , climbing great heights and plunging down to great depths. This a five star read.

I was SO excited for this early read because I have loved her previous 2 books. Now the worst part about having read this is that now I'm ready for her next before this even hits pub date.
The research and thought behind this novel is mind blowing. The author has written such a unique, thought-provoking, and well hashed out story with such sympathetic characters. Dr. Byrd, Jane, Nico, and the Dr.'s wife were somehow all equally developed and easy to identify with.
The mystery created behind this story was also so intriguing. At first I felt myself immersed in the parallels between motherhood and dissociation then caught up in the race to capture Jane's history and try to diagnose her. But the 'answer' was so much more pleasing and fascinating than I imagined. A highly recommended read!

Wonderfully unique and beautifully written. This was not what I was expecting but I was pleasantly surprised.

I was so excited for this book...unfortunately this isn't my favorite book by this author. It was very interesting, and it kept me turning pages, but ultimately I didn't love this story. Dr. Byrd, an NYC psychologist, is sharing his notes about one of his patients, Jane O. Jane has been having these "blackout" episodes where she disappears, but continues to care for herself and her son. Is this really a fugue state....or is she pretending? Interspersed through the story are Jane's letters to her infant son. I was confused some of the time, really thrown by the pandemic section, but I could not stop reading. I will read anything from this author, but her first two books were hits to me--this one fell flat.

Beautiful writing and an intriguing story. Not the ending I wanted, but I appreciated it.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/213870076

Thompson Walker writes books that all deal with some unique science fiction type issue but don't feel like science fiction books. This book is written from two viewpoints: Dr. Byrd who is treating Jane and letters that Jane writes to her young child. The book is a slow burn initially but when the two paths take a sharp turn away from each other I was definitely hooked. This was an interesting book that had be guessing how the mental health issues of Jane were going to be explained. The clues had me believing one direction and the ending details changed that for me. I was committed to keep reading to find out what was happening and had empathy for the main character's struggles to understand what was happening to her.


Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Marketing for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

I think this book is already one of my favorite psychological thriller/sci-fi reads of 2025! If you left me alone in front of a whiteboard with a marker to write my feelings about it, I would keep filling the board with "I freaking love it!" over and over again!

I love challenging my brain cells with extra smart, twisty books that push me to form theories and make far-fetched guesses, ultimately disturbing my mind until my grey cells burn. I also enjoy a great adrenaline rush and surprises that pull the rug out from under me. I love to pick my fallen jaw off the floor and reposition my popped-out eyes after reading a remarkable thriller. Thankfully, this book gave me all those feelings, and I'm still holding my head with a bag of ice to cool down my burning grey cells.

This story revolves around Jane O., told through the journals of her psychiatrist Dr. Henry Byrd and her own letters written to her son Caleb. The two different POVs drag you into very different perceptions and make you question everything when you have two not-so-reliable narrators: one who might be suffering from dissociative disorders and delusions, and the other a disgraced doctor for mixing his feelings with his profession. Which one tells the truth?

Their connection starts when Jane appears at Dr. Byrd's office, at first leaving without saying a word, and next, the doctor is summoned to a hospital to find out Jane went missing for one day, leaving her child behind, lying in the park without remembering anything about her missing day. Her short-term amnesia pushes her to see her doctor again, and as they start their sessions, Henry realizes there are many things about Jane, like her gift of hyperthymesia: highly superior autobiographical memory.

She insists they met twenty years ago. She even describes everything about his office, including every knick-knack, the books shelved in his library and study. She can tell the weather, events, and her full schedule of a random day in detail. But that also raises the big question: Why can't she remember what happened during her blackout? And why is she hiding the truth about the tragic incident she faced twenty years ago: her friend Nico's death?
She insists she talked with his future self as a middle-aged doctor in the park, which might be an illusion because ghosts can't talk. After this episode, she has a one-day blackout. What are the connections between these incidents?

Before digging deeper, Jane disappears again, this time with her child. As the investigation turns into a sensational news story, bringing about the doctor's suspension, a detective's suspicions about Jane's motives after seeing her on CCTV walking in her apartment corridor, and inconsistencies in her statements about Nico's death make him wonder if Jane is just a regular mother suffering from postpartum depression who put her child's life at risk. What if she never had episodes and is playing a very dangerous game? Is she a liar or a very troubled woman who deserves to be locked up for her own good?

Well, I have to say the puzzle pieces fit together perfectly in the end. I loved the conclusion of this story. I couldn't put this book down, kept theorizing about what was happening to Jane. How can she have a deteriorated perception of things when she has a perfect memory? How can a woman who remembers everything lose days of her life without acknowledging it?

I'm still putting ice on my burning head! But it's truly worth it! This book is such an amazing masterpiece! I wholeheartedly loved it! Don't miss it, my bookish friends! It's FANTASTIC!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for sharing this fantastic book's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This book took a long time to grab my interest...the foundation in the first third of the book took too long to build. The story is unconventional (to say the least), and the details are vital for its integrity, and some of the details seemed inconsistent and unbelievable. How could the main character leave her phone and wallet behind in 2018 and manage in NYC for 9 days, all while taking care of a young child? I just didn't find that feasible. The ending was fascinating, however. The potential is great, but I would have preferred some tightening.

Wow! This one drew me in right from the start and moved in unexpected directions throughout! If you loved a psych 101 class in school, like to decode other people’s dreams, or have felt curious about deja vu and premonitions… this book is for you. KTW has made it to the top of my favorite authors list!

I didn’t read a thing about this book before beginning it and I’m glad. What a wonderful and expected book that winds psychology up with our relationship to time. I loved reading from both characters perspective and while I suspected what was happening based on lots of readings I’ve done about quantum physics, this was one of the most unique ways I’ve seen it used in a story with the push and pull between possibility and “reality.” 5 stars. Thanks to netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

There is not a book Karen Thompson Walker can write that I will not immediately drop everything to read. After having just finished her newest novel, The Strange Case of Jane O., I want to drop everything and read it again. Twenty years after a brief one time visit with psychiatrist, Dr. Henry Byrd, Jane O. sees the doctor again following inexplicable events in which she enters a fugue state. Jane's impeccable autobiographical memory makes this fugue state even more confounding. Told from two points of view, Jane's and Dr. Byrd's, The Strange Case of Jane O. follows their separate journeys to try to understand Jane's mysterious time lapses. Quiet, well-written, thought provoking, The Strange Case of Jane O. is not to be missed.

I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this novel in advance of the publication date! All my thoughts are honest and without bias from any outside source :)

After reading Karen Thompson Walker's "The Dreamers" just a few weeks ago, I knew I had to get my hands on more of her work. When I saw online that she had ARCs available for "The Strange Case of Jane O.", I requested it immediately. I am glad that I did!

On a general note, I love Walker's exploration of different realities in her novels. The use of alternate timelines, contextual understandings, and placement of people in the universe is all very intriguing to me, especially because she handles it in a very non-science fiction manner. This was a sentiment I carried through "The Strange Case of Jane O." I loved the idea of events taking place just slightly to the left of our reality and how that changes the way the reader perceives their universe. I was a big fan of this theme overall.

Our narrator, Dr. Byrd, starts as a very reliable narrator, with Jane being the unreliable character in our story, but this dynamic shifts as both of them become increasingly unreliable (or more reliable, arguably) as the story progresses. I think Walker did a wonderful job of allowing the reader to explore inconsistencies in Jane's story alongside Dr. Byrd's and piece them together as we learned more information. Between Jane's letters to her son and Dr. Byrd's notes, it was very interesting to figure out what was going on and whose stories were "true" only to find out that they both were.

It was obvious to me that the two main characters, Jane and Dr. Byrd, were written by a woman (and a mother at that) because they felt incredibly tender in their vulnerability surrounding grief, longing, and dreams for their children. I loved that even though Jane and Nico had not known one another for a long time, there was a world in which he was looking out for her and her son as an adult. Similarly, I found the conversations about Dr. Byrd's late wife's bookstore existing somewhere in the universe to be an incredibly comforting feeling. These were two very tender details that I truly enjoyed.

The only issue I had with this novel is that Dr. Byrd's previous missteps in psychiatric work made the story feel as if it should have turned more toward themes of a thriller or suspense novel when that was not the point of the story overall. I felt like I was supposed to be anticipating this revelation more to be a more pivotal point in his work with Jane, but it was not nearly as climactic as I felt the lead-up made it seem it would be.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will continue to read everything that Karen Thompson Walker puts out because I think she has a very unique way of writing about what we can, and can't, see.

3.75/5

This novel is (kind of) short and easy to read, but contains heavy subject matter (including suicide, hallucinations, and dissociation). Jane O. claims to have perfect photographic memory, but is seeing things that can't be real, and losing hours of time with no memory. The book is written from two perspectives: Dr. Byrd, a psychologist writing his notes on Jane, and letters that Jane writes to her young son. There are several twists to keep the reader hooked, and I felt it wrapped up nicely.

Jane - 38, mother to a young child, living in NYC - might be an amnesiac. She also might be living in a fugue state. She could be from another world. She could also just be deeply mentally ill. It's unclear what plagues her, but Jane turns to psychiatrist Dr. Henry Byrd to help make sense of her black outs and the distress that accompanies them. The novel is written from Dr. Byrd's first person perspective and Jane's journal written as letters to her son. I thought The Strange Case of Jane O. was going to be a thriller, but it was much more introspective than that. SPOILER: The Strange Case of Jane O. is a perfect example of how to write about the COVID-19 pandemic.

The story of single mother, Jane O, reads like a realistic plot, but we find out it's labeled speculative fiction, sci-fi and fantasy. The themes of dissociative fugue or complex amnesia, premonition, and intuition are found in many novels, and brought together in this book.

I was intrigued by Jane's loss of memory when she doesn't remember any of what had happened in the days inbetween blacking out and waking up days later. That a closeness with her therapist develops, in spite of the doctor-patient relationship, is not surprising, though it is tentative, gradual, and subtle. But his narrative and her notes to her infant son reveal a lot about her state of mind.

The book made me want to study neuroscience myself, as it makes so clear how much we still don't know about how the brain and the complex ways the mind works.

This is the kind of book that you would be best going into without reading any of the reviews or summaries. I enjoy Karen Thompson Walker as an author, and I thought this book was unique from her other books, but still had me hooked the entire time in the same way. I could see this book as an anchor for a series, because at the end I was absolutely left wanting more. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, I was excited to get to read this one early.

I could not put this down. The Strange Case of Jane O. is eerie, provocative, and spellbinding, encompassing wide-ranging themes including love, loss, memory, fate, identity, and more. The novel alternates between the viewpoints of Jane, a single mother with a young son (in the form of letters from Jane to her son), and her psychiatrist (in the form of case notes). Jane finds herself struck by an inexplicable series of psychological afflictions and bizarre episodes. She goes missing for periods of time, suffers from amnesia, sees people and has experiences that do not seem possible or grounded in reality. Even how she found her psychiatrist in the first place is a bit of a hazy question mark. Is Jane suffering from a diagnosable medical condition, is she faking it all, or is something more uncanny, and perhaps otherworldly, at play? Jane's therapist is determined to find the answers, but in the process, he may very well find himself questioning events in his own life and his own reality. I thought this novel was beautifully written - just like Walker's prior novel, The Dreamers, which I absolutely loved.

I really enjoyed this! After part 3 I could not put this down.

The story has two perspectives - a woman who’s recently had a hallucination and her doctor. The doctor’s POV was told like a case study of her condition, and the woman’s POV is written as letters to her son. The unreliable narration definitely makes you want to keep reading, and the ending was satisfying in an eerie way.

I will admit it dragged a little in the middle, but it’s a shorter read and I’m so glad I got to read this!

Karen Thompson Walker’s “The Strange Case of Jane O” starts off so matter-of-factly, with a psychiatrist’s account of a case of his,
that it reads like nonfiction, though from the beginning it’s evident there’s something extremely odd about the young woman patient, with how she’s so unwilling to share the details of whatever prompted her to seek professional help. Indeed, she breaks off her relationship with the psychiatrist after the very first visit without ever disclosing exactly what brought her to the office. And the psychiatrist thinks that’s the end of what might have been an interesting case until he’s called in to assist when she turns up unconscious in a park with no memory, upon waking, of anything that happened to her in the previous 25 hours.
Especially strange, given her earlier visit with him and her reluctance to disclose exactly what had been troubling her, he thinks, but things get stranger still as she goes on to become his patient and, while still not remembering what brought her to the park, begins sharing details of other strange things in her life, including her having seen a male acquaintance she knows to be dead and telling of coming across a dead woman neighbor in her apartment building even though a detective later tells the psychiatrist there’s no evidence of anyone dying in her building. Strange too how the woman has a prodigious memory that enables her to remember the smallest detail of everything that has ever happened to her, though only those things that interested her.
Then comes another, longer blackout which raises concerns about the safety of her young son, though videos show him never having been in any danger, with her attentive to him throughout the episode, and which has the psychiatrist thinking he might be dealing with dissociative fugue, a disorder in which sufferers have been known to disappear without a trace only to turn up years later far removed from where they went missing.
A workable hypothesis even if it doesn’t completely cover the woman’s symptoms, thinks the psychiatrist, who has issues of his own, including his wife having been killed in an auto accident, which left him with the sole care of their young daughter and a propensity to reflect on such weighty philosophical matters as how the complexity of a universe arranged by divine design might be identical to the complexity of a universe that results entirely from chance.
And indeed there comes to be a possible complex philosophical explanation for all the novel’s strangeness which has to do with an actual global consciousness project which is either fascinating if you’re at all inclined toward the paranormal or “malarkey,” if you're of the mindset of the very terra firma-grounded computer science acquaintance of mine whom I asked to look into the project.
Either way, Walker’s novel, whose matter-of-fact prose blossoms as the narrow clinical orientation gives way to a wider philosophical scope, makes for an intriguing and provocative read, with a particular interest for anyone, like me, with a strong interest in abnormal psychology.