Karen Harrington (1) (1967–)

Janeology is a mesmerizing read!

Janeology is a unique and captivating blend of legal drama and paranormal suspense. Jane and Tom Nelson represent an average American family, with twins Simon and Sarah, and the family dog. But one incomprehensible act forever changes their lives: Jane attempts to drown her children and the dog—and only one survives.

What follows is unexpected. Instead of the courtroom drama with Jane in the hot-seat, we’re taken to a time when she is already committed to show more a psychiatric hospital, and Tom now stands trial in his own fight—the battle to prove that he was not responsible for his wife’s actions, that the charges of “failure to protect” will see him as innocent.

Starting off as a legal thriller, the novel takes an interesting detour when a psychic with family ties is brought in to provide an unusual and compelling genealogical defense—that Jane inherited her indifference and un-motherly qualities from generations of ancestors.

I found the flashbacks into Jane’s ancestors’ lives very intriguing, and some of the complexly drawn characters still linger in my mind. Karen Harrington expertly paints her characters with multiple layers, and with vivid imagery that quickly carries the reader through the pages. You won’t want to put it down.

Perhaps the author has touched upon a truth here. Having actually known and befriended a woman who, years after I’d lost touch with her, had abused, imprisoned and starved her young son to death, I have asked myself many of the same questions that Tom asked. What makes a mother kill her own child? Why didn’t I recognize the signs?

Janeology is a novel you won’t soon forget. I know I won’t. It delves into a highly sensitive topic that is sadly ripped from the headlines in nearly any given month and is never discussed in such detail. All in all, Janeology is a mesmerizing read! I can’t recommend this novel enough!

~Cheryl Kaye Tardif,
author of Whale Song and Divine Intervention show less

When Sarah Nelson was two years old her mother tried to drown her. Luckily the drowning didn’t take, unfortunately, her twin brother Simon wasn’t so lucky. In Sure Signs of Crazy we spend Sarah’s twelfth summer with her.

Sarah’s mother is now in a hospital for the criminally insane. Sarah lives with her father, and this summer he is letting her stay at home instead of shipping her off to her grandparents. Sarah and her father have moved around a lot, always trying to avoid being show more recognized. They both have their scars from their traumatic past, her father drinks too much and Sarah is constantly worried that she too will go crazy one day. Sarah is a very bright girl, and one of her hobbies is to collect her favorite words and find places to use them and she writes engaging letters to Atticus Finch, the father from To Kill A Mockingbird. This summer will be pivotal in Sarah’s life as she experiences her first big crush, becomes a woman, finds the courage to tell her alcoholic father how she really feels, and takes some big steps toward understanding what happened to her family ten years ago.

The book is aimed at eleven to thirteen year old children so is simplified somewhat but the author is well able to express the difficulties that Sarah encounters in a way that is understandable. Sarah is a wonderful character, she is smart, observant yet still naive. As the book is aimed at children, one can’t help but applaud how the author manages to explore how Sarah works through her anger and fears. Sure Signs of Crazy is full of empathy and humor, resulting in an engaging and hopeful story. show less

I bought this novel - in hardback, even though I have limited space left on my shelves! - because of the connection with To Kill A Mockingbird, and despite taking too long in getting around to actually read the thing, I am so glad I did. Waiting until I was in the right mood to re-read Mockingbird also means that I was better able to appreciate just how well Karen Harrington balances source and inspiration in her story, having her twelve year old narrator write beautiful letters to 'Atticus' show more while mirroring the spirit of Scout's journey of discovery.

Books like this, aimed at 'young readers', almost make me wish I was growing up twenty years later, although adults can take just as much as pre-teens from this multi-layered and honestly written novel. Any story that can make me laugh and cry within the space of a few hours is worth keeping, and Sarah's emotive narration had a powerful effect on me. I don't think you need to have survived a troubled childhood to identify with a girl whose conflicting feelings make her doubt her own sanity, but I have definitely been on the same wavelength: 'It's funny how you don't know you are a bunch of pieces until someone hugs you together'.

Yes, all the regular character types found in YA novels are featured - the loving but dysfunctional family, the cute and quirky first crush (bonus points for making Finn an etymology student, though) - but putting them together in the right order is what raises this above most teen literature. Katherine Reay's Dear Mr Knightley, for example, is similar in content and direction, but writing to a beloved fictional character is fitting for Sarah, and works really well in terms of characterisation and plot development. And what could have seemed contrived and callous - using mental illness and alcohol abuse to make Sarah a troubled teen - actually flows really well to form a heartbreaking but also genuinely inspiring reflection of Harper Lee's classic. show less

Janeology was a bit closer to home for me than it would be for others. No, I'm not related to any of those too-many mothers who kill their children for whatever crazy reasons they may have. I meant the other part: I live in east Texas, where all these things seem to happen.

The setting of the book was familiar. I live in, near, and around the places mentioned in the book (well, the present-day places). I must credit Karen Harrington, the book's author, for her believable portrayal of my show more current home town. Way to go.

The book, set in Houston, involves a mother, Jane, who drowns her son. The courts deem her insane, and as such, cannot adequately punish her in today's "eye-for-an-eye" litigious society. So, a group of concerned citizens help redirect the blame onto the father, Tom.

The book involves Tom's attempt at defending himself from the blame, whose strongest support is the fact that he should have known that Jane would do such a thing.

At the end of his rope, trying everything he can to cling to his remaining family, the twin sister of his deceased son, all the while starting to believe he's at fault, his mother hires a lawyer to defend his case: one of those tough, Texas ball-breakers.

Tom's conviction would lead to a horrible precedent, making individuals guilty for crimes committed by others, just because they should have known better. The case, then, is to prove Tom's innocence. And the best way to do that is through pointing the finger at something else: Jane's genetics.

Having little known about Jane's family, Tom's lawyer hires a clairvoyant, who is also related to Jane, to use retrocognition in association with some family heirlooms, to show that Jane's story was just the tail-end of a big, messy family history. And all the facts check out.

While at first I was a bit befuddled at the concept of a serious lawyer using new age methods in a case, I soon just suspended my disbelief and got on with the story. I suppose it's just as believable that a clairvoyant's visions could help "disprove" a case brought solely on emotionally charged reasons.

Harrington captures the voice of several of Jane's ancestors, fitting the voice for the era, and including bits and pieces from that time to make those pieces all the more believable. While reading, I was reminded of the video game "Eternal Darkness," only without any Lovecraftian gods mucking about with the universe.

The book is compelling and well-written. It was not necessarily a book I'd pick up and read on my own, though. If you can get over that clairvoyant hump, Janeology is part family history, part courtroom drama, and entirely readable for such a grim subject as it covers. show less