We, Jane - BookWyrm

No cover — Aimee Wall: We, Jane (AudiobookFormat)

Audiobook

English language

(1 review)

A remarkable debut about intergenerational female relationships and resistance found in the unlikeliest of places, We, Jane explores the precarity of rural existence and the essential nature of abortion. Searching for meaning in her Montreal life, Marthe begins an intense friendship with an older woman, also from Newfoundland, who tells her a story about purpose, about a duty to fulfill. It’s back home, and it goes by the name of Jane. Marthe travels back to a small community on the island with the older woman to continue the work of an underground movement in 60s Chicago: abortion services performed by women, always referred to as Jane. She commits to learning how to continue this legacy and protect such essential knowledge. But the nobility of her task and the reality of small-town life compete, and personal fractures within their group begin to grow. We, Jane probes the importance of care work …

A remarkable debut about intergenerational female relationships and resistance found in the unlikeliest of places, We, Jane explores the precarity of rural existence and the essential nature of abortion. Searching for meaning in her Montreal life, Marthe begins an intense friendship with an older woman, also from Newfoundland, who tells her a story about purpose, about a duty to fulfill. It’s back home, and it goes by the name of Jane. Marthe travels back to a small community on the island with the older woman to continue the work of an underground movement in 60s Chicago: abortion services performed by women, always referred to as Jane. She commits to learning how to continue this legacy and protect such essential knowledge. But the nobility of her task and the reality of small-town life compete, and personal fractures within their group begin to grow. We, Jane probes the importance of care work by women for women, underscores the complexity of relationships in close circles, and beautifully captures the inevitable heartache of understanding home.

Read by Rhiannon Morgan

3 editions

Flauschbuch reviewed We, Jane by Aimee Wall

Not quite what I expected

3 stars

It took me ages to finish this audiobook. That endeavour wasn't helped by the rather monotonous voice in which it is read. It's a quiet and slow-moving narrative which meanders quite a bit. While it deals with questions of abortion access it's mostly about the personal relationships between the characters, especially Marthe and "Jane", and life in Newfoundland. If you, like me, wonder why this is set in Canada which has very liberal laws regarding abortions (certainly less restrictive ones than my own country), the book has good arguments in favour of networks of women knowing how to do abortions themselves. Especially in rural areas like this one, actual access to abortions can be a problem. And you can never be sure that the right to abortion won't be taken away (as we've seen in some countries and regions). Even though there's an interesting twist towards the end of the …

It took me ages to finish this audiobook. That endeavour wasn't helped by the rather monotonous voice in which it is read. It's a quiet and slow-moving narrative which meanders quite a bit. While it deals with questions of abortion access it's mostly about the personal relationships between the characters, especially Marthe and "Jane", and life in Newfoundland. If you, like me, wonder why this is set in Canada which has very liberal laws regarding abortions (certainly less restrictive ones than my own country), the book has good arguments in favour of networks of women knowing how to do abortions themselves. Especially in rural areas like this one, actual access to abortions can be a problem. And you can never be sure that the right to abortion won't be taken away (as we've seen in some countries and regions). Even though there's an interesting twist towards the end of the book, very little is done with it and the book just kind of ends.