Looking For Jane by Heather Marshall

 

2017

When Angela discovers a mysterious letter containing a life-shattering confession in a stack of forgotten letters, she begins to look for the intended recipient. Her search takes her to the 1970s and 80s, when a group of daring women operated an illegal underground abortion network known only by its whispered code name: Jane . . .

1971

As a teenager, Dr. Evelyn Taylor was forced to give her baby up for adoption. Swearing she'll do everything she can to make sure other women have the right to choose, she joins the Jane Network to provide safe but illegal abortions. There, she crosses paths with Nancy, who was told that if she ever found herself 'in a position', she should ask for Jane. Nancy soon becomes the Network's newest volunteer, desperately trying to help others while family secrets threaten everything she knows to be true.

Over the years, Evelyn, Nancy, and Angela's lives intertwine to reveal the devastating consequences that come from a lack of choice, and the buried secrets that will always find a way to the surface . . .

I received a copy of this from the publisher Hodder and Staughton, and Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I read this with Kath as our November buddy read, although I really should apologize as I took ages reading this and Kath finished it way before I did. But that was down to me being tired, nothing to do with the book. 

The story was so good, I loved it. A heartbreaking and beautiful tale of 3 women, whose lives intertwine and connect. I loved learning about all 3 of them.

I wasn’t surprised at how hard things were back then for women and girls who needed an abortion, and how scary it was for them trying to find it. What I was surprised with though was realizing  that this was happening not so long ago. What those women and girls went through, the fear of being caught, I can’t even imagine. But also what the girls went through in those homes, the Sisters treating them the way they did, taking their babies without consent, giving them away and sometimes even selling them. 

But the Jane’s, well they were lifesavers weren't they. I’ve been researching them as I’m really interested in what they have done. Amazing women standing up for a much needed cause. They put their lives at stake to do what they did. 

I’d definitely recommend this book, it’s opened my eyes to just how scary and frightening this all was. I was about to say I’m glad things have changed and its different now, but honestly, in some places it still hasn’t.

This Much Is True by Miriam Margolyes

 

Award-winning actor, creator of a myriad of memorable characters from Lady Whiteadder to Professor Sprout, Miriam Margolyes is a national treasure.

Now, at last, at the age of 80, she has finally decided to tell her extraordinary life story. And it's far richer and stranger than any part she's played.

Find out how being conceived in an air-raid gave her curly hair; what pranks led to her being known as the naughtiest girl Oxford High School ever had; how she ended up posing nude for Augustus John aged 17, being sent to Coventry by Monty Python and the Goodies and swearing on University Challenge (she was the first woman to say F*** on TV). This book is packed with unforgettable stories from why Bob Monkhouse was the best (male) kiss she's ever had to being told off by the Queen. With a cast list stretching from Scorsese to Streisand, Leonardo di Caprio to Isaiah Berlin, This Much is True is as warm and honest, as full of life and surprises, as she is.

I read this with my reading buddy Kath in September, and my god I loved it! 

Miriam has always been a cracking lady, but reading her book I realised just how much more amazing she really is. You can’t go into this book without knowing what you’re going to be face with. Anyone who knows Miriam knows this book is going to be full of swearing, sex, and a lot of shocking moments. And boy it did not disappoint!

I loved reading about young Miriam, from starting school she was an absolute little tinker. She wasn’t naughty, but done silly things like dressing up as a french woman and pretending to be a new students mother. I can imagine her being such a funny girl. It was nice to read about her home life growing up, and finding her own way in the world as she got older. The hilarious stories carry on throughout the book, and the one with The Queen was brilliant. I noticed how much has changed since this book was written, which wasn’t that long ago. She talks about how much she admires The Queen, her husband Prince Phillip, and how Charles will make a good King one day. Well, this is all different now, with The Queen and Prince Phillip no longer with us, and King Charles now ruling. 

There is so much sex in this book. I love how truthful and honest Miriam is, she gives herself big props as the best person around to erm ‘service’ a man, and how she often did this for anyone who asked. 

This lady is wonderful, she’s had a brilliant life so far, and I hope she still has a good few years in her yet.

Paper Towns by John Green

Quentin Jacobsen has always loved Margo Roth Spiegelman, for Margo (and her adventures) are the stuff of legend at their high school. So when she one day climbs through his window and summons him on an all-night road trip of revenge he cannot help but follow. But the next day Margo doesn't come to school and a week later she is still missing. Q soon learns that there are clues in her disappearance . . . and they are for him. But as he gets deeper into the mystery - culminating in another awesome road trip across America - he becomes less sure of who and what he is looking for.

I read this with my buddy reader pal Kath. We’ve read a few together now and this was our second John Green novel, the first being Looking For Alaska. 

We both enjoyed this one, and we kept on chatting throughout about what was happening. We both agreed on the ending being not what we expected, and a little disappointing. But overall we enjoyed the story. It gave me ‘Looking For Alaska’ vibes, the kids running around, sneaking away from the grown ups and doing random stuff they shouldn’t have been doing.

I like Q, and I liked his friends. Margo was a bit hit and miss for me, sometimes I liked her, sometimes I didn’t. 

If you like John Greens books I’d recommend it. 

Crying In H Mart by Michelle Zauner

From the indie rockstar Japanese Breakfast, an unflinching, powerful, deeply moving memoir about growing up mixed-race, Korean food, losing her Korean mother, and forging her own identity.

In this exquisite story of family, food, grief, and endurance, Michelle Zauner proves herself far more than a dazzling singer, songwriter, and guitarist. With humour and heart, she tells of growing up the only Asian-American kid at her school in Eugene, Oregon; of struggling with her mother's particular, high expectations of her; of a painful adolescence; of treasured months spent in her grandmother's tiny apartment in Seoul, where she and her mother would bond, late at night, over heaping plates of food.

As she grew up, moving to the east coast for college, finding work in the restaurant industry, performing gigs with her fledgling band - and meeting the man who would become her husband - her Koreanness began to feel ever more distant, even as she found the life she wanted to live.

It was her mother's diagnosis of terminal pancreatic cancer, when Michelle was twenty-five, that forced a reckoning with her identity and brought her to reclaim the gifts of taste, language, and history her mother had given her.

Thank you to Gaby over at Picador books for my gifted copy!

I read this with my book buddy Kath, we took our time and talked about each part, and I loved it. 

I wasn’t sure what I was expecting from this book, but I was really surprised at how much I liked it. First off, the main story is Michelle’s mother finding out she has terminal cancer, and then the three of them (Michelle, her mother and her father) trying to come to terms with what’s happening. It’s a sad story, and I cried, but there was so much love too. The stories of the bonding over the years were so heartwarming.

Another major part of the story is food. Now I love food, but wow does Michelle’s family like their food! Oh the descriptions had my mouth watering at times. But there is a deep connection with the family through food, and Michelle told it so beautifully. There’s a scene where Michelle is at a food hall and is watching and describing the other people around her, it’s so mesmerising.

I loved the trips they took, and at times felt like I needed to reach in and help them in sticky situations. I felt you forget sometimes this isn’t fiction, and you’re brought back down to earth with heartbreaking scenes. 

Please read this book, it’s beautiful. Thanks Kath for reading and chatting along with me.

Now, off to find more Korean recipes!