Aimee Wall

Difficult read for me mostly because of the subject matter but also because I kept wanting more from the story.

Marthe is from Newfoundland but has lived and worked in Montreal for at least 10 years. Her long time boyfriend recently decided to move back to Sweden and her job as a barista in a coffee shop is not fulfilling (to say the least). Soon after she met her boyfriend she had become pregnant and decided to have an abortion. She doesn't regret that decision but it was a significant event in her life. She goes to a meeting that involves women who want to become doulas which Marthe understands to include assisting at abortions as well as births. She meets Ruth, an older woman also from Newfoundland who shares her interest in abortion provision. Ruth tells her about a women that she lived and trained with in Newfoundland who acted as a healer and midwife and occasional abortion provider. Trish still does this but she wants other women to carry on her work. Ruth suggests that the two of them return to Newfoundland where Marthe can meet Trish and learn from her. Trish is a lesbian and is in a relationship with a neighbour, Therese. There is also an American woman, Jenny, who comes to the town every summer. Jenny first told Trish and Ruth about the Jane movement in the US that consisted of a group of women who helped procure safe abortions before Roe v. Wade made abortions legal. Marthe likes to think of this group of Newfoundland women as carrying on the Jane movement and thus the title of the book.

This is certainly a relevant book given the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the US. Even in Canada women outside of major centres, like the interior of Newfoundland, have difficulty accessing safe, timely abortions. I just found the story line meandered for too long before getting to the critical question of whether Marthe would carry on Trish's work.… (meer)

This book is billed as a story of an underground network of women, all known as "Jane", who provide abortions in un-serviced, rural areas. But it isn't really. One character has had an abortion in the past, and one or two procure the service during the book, with little dwelling on the fact or details. Rather, this is a book about women taking control of far more than their reproductive rights. It's about doing things "our way", forging strong bonds of friendship or sisterhood with or without friendship. It's a great character driven story of strong women, or those on their way to becoming strong.… (meer)