Janeology

by Karen Harrington

Book Overview

Jane, a loving mother of two, has drowned her toddler son and is charged with his murder in this powerful examination of love, loss, and family legacy. When a prosecutor decides Jane's husband Tom is partially to blame for the death and charges him with "failure to protect," Tom's attorney proposes a radical defense. He plans to create reasonable doubt about his client's alleged guilt by showing that Jane's genealogy is the cause of her violence,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1956957715
• ISBN13: 9781956957716
• Release Date: July 2024
• Publisher: Shotgun Honey Books
• Length: 248 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Nature versus Nurture; The Complexities of Understanding Human Behavior

First time novelist Karen Harrington's JANEOLOGY is a reading experience so thoughtfully conceived and written that accepting the fact that this is a first novel flirts with disbelief. Not only is Harrington a masterful conjurer of a suspenseful thriller, but she is also a wordsmith able to maintain the reader's attention and involvement in her masterful exploration of the science of psychology, genetics, and the fascination with the concept of retrocognition, all the while unraveling a mystery not unlike decoding a strand of DNA. If, indeed, this is a first novel, then we are in the presence of a gifted artist with a bright and solid future. In a Prologue, Harrington sets the stage for the drama that will unfold in the course of her novel, just as in the Epilogue she manages to tie her tale together in as surprising a fashion as the method in which she relates her story. Jane Nelson is jailed for the drowning murder of her young son Simon and the attempted drowning of Simon's twin sister Sarah. What lead to this horrid act is the theme of the story. That, and the fact that Jane's husband Tom is implicated for not recognizing the mental deterioration and signs of behavior alteration that, had he been more mentally and physically present in the family, could have prevented the tragedy. Tom is supported by his friend and lawyer Dave who is hired to defend Tom in the charges of child endangerment and neglect. Dave, Tom, and 'spiritualist/agent of retrocognition skills' Mariah slowly unravel the events that served as signals to Jane's ability to murder her children. This investigation is done through visits to Jane's past - startling discoveries of familial traits of mental instability as well as repeated incidents of abuse and desertion and brutally faulty mothering and interfamily secrets - that give rise to the question of whether Jane's illness is genetically determined or the product of cruel, inappropriate nurturing. Throughout these sessions before Tom's trial as a 'co-conspirator' we find Tom's initial love for Jane, his life with her and his twins, and the history of episodes involving Tom and Jane that could have prompted Tom to see Jane for the complete person she is rather than the perception of a wife as he elected to see her with blinders in place. 'The mask of self-control is a powerful antidote to the chaos that rages within us all.' In reflecting on Jane's torrid familial history Mariah states 'Children aren't born practical...Life makes them that way when they are forced to constantly make the best of every situation.' But Harrington's revisiting Jane's genealogy is peppered with many keenly observed ideas: '...time plus tragedy always equal comedy.' and '...pre-death purgatory may look like for the modern man, a place where you are forced to shore up the rationales for your behavior, a waiting room where you must sort out the misdeeds of your mother.' and 'Drugs are often the substitute for multiple generations of paren

An Excellent and Throughly Enjoyable Read

As a clinical psychologist, I am often skeptical of stories that try to tease apart the nurture versus nature debate. However, I was pleasantly surprised by Janeology, the debut novel by Karen Harrington, which was both an excellent and thoroughly enjoyable read. Tom is devastated when his wife Jane, a young and beautiful nurse and seemingly loving mother inexplicably drowns their two year old son. Tom's daughter is left in critical condition as the life he once knew suddenly falls apart. As Tom endures his wife's trial and tries to bury his pain in alcohol, a zealous prosecutor decides to put Tom on trial for the failure to adequately protect his children. Given the situation and the evidence, Tom's attorney Dave believes that there is only one viable defense, that by exposing Jane's geneology, that she was predisposed and programmed to such violence and that no person could have foreseen. Enter Mariah, a woman with the ability to see past events through objects owned by the deceased. Although my initial reaction to such a premise was somewhat skeptical, I soon was caught up in the fascinating view of Jane's ancestors seen through their eyes, spanning many generations and continents. This character study about the experiences that forever altered and changed their lives provides a rich character study of how perceptions and behavior patterns emerge through the generations.Harrington does a wonderful job introducing us to interesting, complex but yet flawed characters and gives the reader a greater appreciation of the effects of nature versus nature as well as inherent contradictions in life. I particularly enjoyed the ending which has both surprises and answered many questions while raising other thought-provoking questions of its own. In sum, Janeology was a wonderful read that left me enriched for the experience. David Loewenstein Ph.D. Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Author- For the Love of Rachel: A Father's Story

Finely-crafted , Suspensful Tapestry of Family History

This novel is more than the story of a father and his lawyer struggling to defend an unfair indictment for reckless endangerment arising from the drowning of a child by her mother, Jane. It is a finely-crafted tapestry of family history - of ingeniously plotted stories within the main story - which skillfully illumines a universal truth: the evil that men (and women) do lives after them. It reminds us that each of us is affected by our ancestry in subtle ways of which we may not be fully aware. The choices made and fortune experienced by our parents and grandparents, and those even farther up the family tree, affect our lives in profound and unpredictable ways. Ms. Harrington shows a remarkable ability to create authentic historical subplots and weave the whole into a complex and suspenseful tale. Janeology is an outstanding achievement, and I look forward to many more fine novels from this resourceful author.

More than a good mystery; so much more

I went into this book thinking that I had a straightforward mystery in my hands. By the time I was done, I found that "Janeology" is so much more. This book is a surprise, and a very welcome one. Harrington takes a story that is all too familiar to us -- the murder of a child by a seemingly ordinary young mother who simply can't do it anymore -- and examines deeper issues of responsibility, the power of regret, and the ongoing deliberation concerning nature versus nurture. What begins as a courtroom drama evolves into a sometimes heartbreaking exploration of one family's past and the threads, both genetic and environmental, that connect us all to the unseen generations before us. As a storyteller, Karen Harrington creates believable characters: flawed, fragile, belligerent, and yet ultimately hopeful. Her dialogue, both contemporary and period, rings true. Most refreshingly, Harrington allows her story to avoid obvious paths and easy, instant gratification. When you reach the last pages, you will find yourself in a very different place than you might have anticipated. Different, and deeply satisfying.

a compelling story

Why do parents kill their children? Mental causes? Physical reasons? What about family history - genealogy? This book presents a compelling story to make you think. The author takes you back in time to explore the nature of Jane's family history. The chapters flow from one family member into the next leaving you curious for more and with a few surprises along the way. Fascinating. Powerful. Thought provoking.