My review is written with thanks to Manilla Press for my copy of The Strange Case Of Jane O.

Blurb:

WHAT IF YOU COULD REMEMBER EVERYTHING, EXCEPT THE DAY YOU DISAPPEARED?

A young woman, Jane O., arrives in a psychiatrist’s office. She’s been suffering a series of worrying episodes: amnesia, premonitions, hallucinations and an inexplicable sense of dread. But as the psychiatrist struggles to solve the mystery of what is happening in Jane’s mind, she suddenly goes missing. When she is found a day later, unconscious in a park, she has no memory of what has happened to her.

Are Jane’s strange experiences related to the overwhelm of single motherhood, or long-buried trauma from her past? Why is she having visions of a young man who died twenty years ago, who warns her of disaster ahead? Jane’s symptoms will lead her psychiatrist to question everything he once thought he knew . . .

Profound and beautifully written, THE STRANGE CASE OF JANE O. is a speculative mystery about memory, identity and fate, a mesmerising story about the bonds of love between a mother and child, a man and a woman, and the haunting, unexplained mysteries of the human mind.

Review:

Although The Strange Case Of Jane O does have elements of suspense and mystery, it’s probably not a book I would have read were it not chosen for an online book club. It did take me some time to get into it, but overall I did enjoy it, particularly as the plot gathered pace towards the end.

The novel is narrated in different sections by psychiatrist Dr Byrd, and in the form of a diary written by Jane O. The first person narration does raise the question of which characters are reliable and which version of events can be trusted. This creates a great sense of mystery and intrigue, and despite the slow burning story, I really wanted to find out what was happening.

It is clear that Karen Thompson Walker has done a great deal of research into psychiatric conditions and historical instances of it. I found these cases fascinating and I feel they added an interesting layer to an engaging story.

The ending of The Strange Case Of Jane O is quite open ended, and I will be thinking about Jane and Dr Byrd long after I have finished reading.

The Strange Case Of Jane O is available from Amazon.