Looking for Jane Summary, Characters and Themes

Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall is a novel that explores the hidden histories of women affected by Canada’s once-brutal system of forced adoptions and restricted reproductive rights. 

Told through the interconnected lives of three women—Evelyn, Nancy, and Angela—the book shifts between timelines from the 1960s to 2017, uncovering buried secrets, systemic injustices, and the resilient underground network known as the Jane Collective. With emotional depth and historical relevance, Marshall’s novel sheds light on the personal and political battles surrounding motherhood, choice, and identity, weaving a narrative that is as heart-wrenching as it is empowering.

Summary

Heather Marshall’s Looking for Jane unfolds through the lives of three women whose stories interconnect across generations. 

The novel opens in 2017 with Angela Creighton, a bookstore employee in Toronto who stumbles upon a misdirected, decades-old letter revealing a dark truth: a woman named Nancy Mitchell was coerced into adoption at the notorious St. Agnes’s Home for Unwed Mothers. 

The letter strikes a deep chord with Angela, who has suffered a miscarriage and harbors unresolved grief about motherhood. Driven by a sense of justice, she begins a search to find Nancy or the letter’s intended recipient, Nancy’s birth mother.

The narrative then moves to Evelyn Taylor, a young woman in 1960 who is sent to St. Agnes’s after becoming pregnant out of wedlock. The home, run by nuns, is cold, rigid, and emotionally abusive. 

Evelyn, grieving the death of her fiancé Leo, bonds with another resident, Maggie Roberts, but both are ultimately forced to surrender their babies. Evelyn’s baby girl is taken immediately after birth, and the trauma leaves her both devastated and radicalized. She decides to become a doctor to help other women avoid such suffering.

In 1979, the story introduces Nancy Mitchell, a teenager navigating tension with her mother and a rapidly changing world. When her cousin Clara nearly dies during an illegal abortion, Nancy is told by a sympathetic doctor to “ask for Jane” if she or any girl needs help in the future. 

This cryptic advice introduces her to a covert network of women offering safe abortion access during a time when it was still illegal. Nancy eventually becomes deeply involved with this underground collective, known as the Jane Network.

As Evelyn moves into the 1970s, she participates in the Abortion Caravan protest in Ottawa and attends medical school. 

By the 1980s, she is a practicing doctor who secretly performs abortions and is a key member of the Jane Network. She works alongside a trusted nurse named Alice, driven by the loss of her child and the cruelty of the adoption system.

Nancy, in the meantime, reflects on her own motivations. Inspired by her cousin’s suffering and the risks she witnessed in the pre-legalization era, she dedicates herself to helping women access safe reproductive care, despite the legal and personal risks involved.

Back in 2017, Angela’s investigation leads her to a book titled The Jane Network, written by Dr. Evelyn Taylor. 

The connection between Evelyn and the historical Jane Collective fascinates her, especially as she realizes that both Evelyn and Nancy were deeply involved in this resistance movement. 

As she digs deeper, Angela discovers that the letter she found was more than a historical artifact—it is a direct link between Evelyn and Nancy.

In a powerful twist, Angela uncovers the truth: Nancy Mitchell is Evelyn Taylor’s long-lost daughter, taken from her at birth by the St. Agnes’s system. Their separation, filled with years of grief, trauma, and silence, becomes the emotional core of the novel. 

Angela’s journey to uncover this truth also allows her to confront her own losses and choices, giving her a renewed sense of purpose.

Ultimately, Looking for Jane is a story about resistance, resilience, and the transformative power of truth. 

It honors the real and fictionalized efforts of underground abortion providers, exposes the brutal treatment of unmarried pregnant women in institutions like St. Agnes’s, and celebrates the courage of women who dared to reclaim agency over their bodies and stories. 

Through Evelyn, Nancy, and Angela, Marshall builds a layered, urgent narrative that is both a tribute and a call to action.

Characters

Angela Creighton

Angela is a key character in the modern-day setting of Looking for Jane. She is introduced as a woman who manages an antique bookstore in Toronto.

The story starts with Angela discovering a poignant letter addressed to “Nancy Mitchell.” Her curiosity about this letter drives her to investigate its origins and significance, particularly how it relates to her own personal grief.

Angela has experienced the pain of miscarriages, which makes her deeply empathetic to the emotional trauma described in the letter. This personal connection compels her to learn more about Nancy and the woman’s experiences.

Angela’s journey becomes not just a search for information, but also a cathartic exploration of her own identity and past. As she uncovers more about the letter and its connection to a historical abortion network, Angela’s growing obsession reflects her desire for closure and the resolution of a long-buried injustice.

Evelyn Taylor

Evelyn’s story begins in 1960 when she is a pregnant teenager abandoned by her father at a strict, oppressive home for unwed mothers called St. Agnes’s. The early chapters reveal Evelyn as a vulnerable young woman whose life is turned upside down after the death of her fiancé.

Despite the harsh environment, Evelyn is determined to overcome her circumstances and is inspired by her desire to become a doctor, hoping to heal others the way she could not save her fiancé. Over time, Evelyn evolves into a strong and progressive figure in the reproductive rights movement.

Her involvement in the Abortion Caravan protest in Ottawa and later joining the underground abortion network, known as “Jane,” demonstrates her unwavering commitment to helping women access safe, legal abortions, a right she herself was denied.

Evelyn’s personal history—marked by loss and trauma—fuels her activism and shapes her character’s emotional and moral growth.

Nancy Mitchell

Nancy is introduced in 1979 as a young woman caught between the expectations of her controlling mother and the harsh realities of the world around her. Her involvement in an illegal abortion procedure for her cousin Clara, which nearly ends tragically, introduces Nancy to the underground abortion network, known as the “Jane” network.

Nancy’s character evolves as she becomes more involved with the network, providing support to women seeking abortions. Her role as a helper in the network underscores her deep commitment to reproductive rights and justice.

The trauma she witnesses and experiences shapes her decision to dedicate her life to aiding women, offering comfort and guidance in the face of societal and legal oppression.

Nancy’s growth as a character is driven by the emotional scars of her own life experiences, particularly her traumatic encounter with abortion services, and her desire to create a better future for other women. Her personal transformation into a figure of support and activism makes her one of the novel’s most compelling characters.

Themes

The Struggles of Reproductive Justice and Autonomy Across Generations

Looking for Jane is the exploration of reproductive justice and women’s autonomy over their bodies. The book carefully navigates the different generations of women—Evelyn, Nancy, and Angela—and how each woman’s life is influenced by the laws and societal structures surrounding abortion.

In the 1960s, Evelyn’s story begins with a forced adoption and being trapped in a harsh, punitive environment that dictated her reproductive choices. The emotional toll of her pregnancy at St. Agnes’s Home is compounded by the system’s refusal to acknowledge her autonomy.

This issue comes full circle in the 1970s with Nancy, who, like Evelyn, becomes an integral part of the underground abortion network known as “Jane.” This secret network represented not just a source of physical care but a lifeline to women desperate to control their reproductive destinies in a hostile, often dangerous environment.

For Angela, whose personal experiences with miscarriage and the search for truth drive the narrative, the theme of reproductive justice becomes a deeply personal pursuit. Angela’s investigation into the letter she found connects the individual to the collective, as she seeks to uncover the painful truths hidden by past generations.

The theme reveals how women’s rights to control their bodies have been contested and how the struggle for reproductive justice has been passed down, often silently, from one generation to the next.

Trauma, Memory, and the Silent Legacy of Maternal Loss

Another central theme is the exploration of trauma, particularly maternal loss, and its long-lasting effects. For Evelyn, the trauma of giving up her child is not merely an event of the past but a deeply embedded part of her identity that shapes every decision she makes thereafter.

This unresolved loss permeates her adulthood, and her journey into the world of underground abortion work becomes not just an act of activism but an attempt at personal healing. Similarly, Nancy’s story is marked by the trauma of her past abortion experience, one that leaves her scarred both physically and emotionally.

Her involvement with the Jane network becomes a form of catharsis, as she helps women navigate the same painful decision she once had to make. For Angela, the letter she discovers serves as a catalyst for her own exploration of grief.

The maternal connection to Nancy Mitchell is both literal and symbolic as Angela contemplates her own loss through miscarriage and how that trauma intertwines with the lives of the women she is trying to understand. This theme of silent maternal loss—whether through adoption, abortion, or miscarriage—demonstrates the generational echoes of unresolved trauma and the difficulty in processing maternal grief when societal forces compel women to hide or suppress their experiences.

The Evolution of Feminist Activism and Solidarity

The theme of feminist activism and solidarity takes center stage as the narrative moves from individual struggles to collective action. Initially, Evelyn’s participation in the Abortion Caravan protest in Ottawa marks the start of her political awakening, driven by her own traumatic experiences with reproductive control.

Over the years, she transitions from being a victim of the system to becoming an active part of the resistance, using her position as a doctor to provide safe abortions to women in need. Nancy, too, becomes involved in the Jane network, finding not only a sense of purpose but also a form of solidarity with other women who understand the urgency of their cause.

These women, across different timelines, create a sisterhood that transcends time, bound by their shared commitment to fighting for women’s rights, particularly in the realm of reproductive freedom. Angela, though distanced from the activism of previous decades, becomes part of the larger narrative of solidarity when she seeks out Nancy and uncovers the historical ties that bind these women together.

This theme speaks to the ongoing nature of feminist struggles, where each generation builds upon the work and the sacrifices of those that came before them.

The Search for Identity and the Burden of Hidden Truths

The theme of identity and the burden of hidden truths plays out through the central mystery of Nancy Mitchell’s identity and the letter that connects her to Angela. Angela’s search for answers is driven by her own sense of loss and a longing to understand a past that has been obscured by time.

This search becomes more than just a detective story; it is an emotional journey where Angela confronts her own grief and the larger questions of identity. Nancy’s life is marked by a similar search, one that is more internal and less outwardly expressed but is no less important.

Her connection to the Jane network and the choices she made regarding abortion and motherhood were driven by her own need for self-understanding and autonomy in the face of overwhelming societal pressure. Evelyn, too, grapples with her identity, defined in part by the child she was forced to give up.

The emotional undercurrent of this theme reveals how identity is shaped not only by the choices one makes but also by the truths left unspoken, the secrets that haunt generations, and the legacy of decisions that women have had little control over. Ultimately, the novel asks whether full identity can ever be achieved in a world where women’s stories have been hidden or erased by patriarchal forces, and whether the search for these truths can offer a path toward healing.

The Intersection of Personal Grief and Collective Action

Finally, the theme of personal grief intertwined with collective action offers a profound exploration of how individual suffering can propel broader social change. Angela’s grief over her miscarriages is not just a private pain but one that propels her into action, as she unravels a hidden history that connects her to Nancy and Evelyn.

Her personal sorrow catalyzes a search for meaning in the lives of these other women, leading her to confront the systemic injustices that have shaped their experiences. Similarly, Evelyn’s grief over the forced adoption of her child is transformed into activism and medical practice that seeks to right the wrongs she experienced.

Nancy, too, channels her personal pain into the Jane network, helping women navigate the difficult and often dangerous landscape of abortion during a time when it was criminalized. The emotional weight of their personal losses motivates these women to make a difference in the world, showing that even the most personal suffering can contribute to a larger, collective fight for justice.

This theme emphasizes how women’s individual struggles are often interconnected with larger societal issues, and how their personal healing is frequently inseparable from the need for collective action.