Almost too Real

A great suspense mystery

See Jane Run  by Joy Fielding
Publisher: Avon
                                   
From the dust jacket: One afternoon in late spring, Jane Whittaker went to the store for some milk and eggs and forgot who she was...

About the book:
     Jane Whittaker wakes as if from a dream at the corner of Cambridge and Bowdoin.  She knows where she is going and what she planned to buy but not her name, her hair color, or her age.  The first pages of this book describe what Jane remembers and what she doesn't giving the reader a feeling overwhelming dread and sympathy.  Then we learn  she is covered in blood under her coat and has a  pocket full of money.

     From there, we follow Jane as she searches for help, finally landing at the hospital where her pediatrician husband, Michael, is well known.  Something is her core being tells her she doesn't want to go with the man everyone says is her husband but she doesn't know why.  At home memories start to surface. She realizes she has a daughter and asks about her only to be told (at first) the seven year old girl is staying with friends. Meanwhile Michael and her housekeeper, Paula, continue to insist Jane take the drugs Michael has prescribed to help her through this time of despair and insist Jane is not well enough to see her friends. But Michael's story begins to change.

My take:
     This is a suspense mystery that you will not want to put down. The conclusion is a terrible surprise, one that many of us can relate to unfortunately.
    "See Jane Run" moves quickly and the sense of foreboding keeps the reader engages throughout the entire book. It is cleanly written with a good understanding of what people in this situation would feel. The story keeps the reader guessing until quite close to the end and even then the reader wonders how Jane can ever come out of this.
     One of the things I most liked about the book is how the main character grew from dependency to being independent in just a first short weeks, as if the fire of this crisis made her discover what she had inside all along. By force of will she is able to put things in motion which actually help her when the reader thinks all is lost.
    While this book may hit too close to home for many readers, I definitely recommend it.