The #1 International Bestseller
Tell them you’re looking for Jane.
2017
When Angela Creighton discovers a mysterious letter containing a life-shattering confession in a stack of forgotten mail, 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 history, 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.
Weaving together the lives of three women, Looking for Jane is an unforgettable debut about the devastating consequences that come from a lack of choice—and the enduring power of a mother’s love.
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And in multiple translations
Praise for Looking for Jane
“Heather Marshall has pulled off a remarkable feat with this vital and incisive tale. It is at once an urgently necessary read and a pleasure to spend time with. The characters felt like friends, their story deeply essential to my own existence. A brave, generous, capable exploration of what it means to be a mother, to be a woman, and to stand up for inexorable truths.”
– Marissa Stapley, New York Times bestselling author of Lucky (a Reese’s Book Club pick)
“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.”
– Genevieve Graham, USA Today and #1 bestselling author of The Forgotten Home Child
“Looking for Jane is an original and poignant story that holds a mirror to the ongoing fight for women’s rights. In reflecting on a dark spot in Canadian history, Heather Marshall speaks to the power of solidarity and of brave women who dare to take a stand.”
– Ellen Keith, bestselling author of The Dutch Wife
“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.”
– Janet Skeslien Charles, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Library
“On its surface, Looking for Jane is an emotionally charged, meticulously researched and deftly plotted book about an underground abortion service operating in the years before abortion was legalized, but in truth, it’s so much more than that. It’s a masterful debut about motherhood and choices, the things we keep, the things we lose, and the things that stay with us and change us at our core forever. Weaving together the tales of three women with a shared connection across the decades, Marshall tackles a time in the very recent past when women seeking an abortion, oftentimes after a rape, had to risk their lives or freedom to get one. Regardless of how you feel about the subject, this is not just an emotional read about tragedy, choice, courage, and fate, but also an important one, which puts a very human face to a complex issue. A searing, important, beautifully written novel about the choices we all make and where they lead us—as well as a wise and timely reminder of the difficult road women had to walk not so long ago.”
– Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author of The Forest of Vanishing Stars
“Marshall’s masterful novel succeeds on multiple fronts: as a poignant celebration of motherhood, and a devastating reminder of the consequences of denying women the right to choose. Fierce, beautifully written, and unforgettable.”
– Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Magnolia Palace
“A compelling story of three women whose lives become entwined as they each fight for the right to make their own choices about their bodies and motherhood. Beautifully written, with a cast of strong female characters I was rooting for from start to finish. I loved it.”
– Caroline Bishop, author of The Other Daughter
“A fascinating and compelling story peopled with strong, brave women who had me cheering them on and moved to tears.”
– Tracy Rees, author of The Rose Garden
“Marshall vividly brings to life the dangers involved with operating Jane… a page-turner… readers will be moved by the courage and thoughtfulness with which these characters face their dilemmas.”
– Publishers Weekly
“Marshall makes an absorbing debut with a timely novel about the complexities of pregnancy and motherhood… [a] deftly braided narrative, Marshall keeps the tension high as she reveals the devastating consequences of denying women autonomy over their bodies. A charged topic handled with sensitivity and compassion.”
– Kirkus Reviews
“Gripping from the moment it begins, [with] the momentum of a high-speed chase…. Has the potential to remain pertinent for generations.”
– The Associated Press