Jane is Trying (W&N Essentials)

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Here, Jane can no longer be the commander of her own destiny, with interference from every quarter: meddling friends, suffocating family, terrible therapists and more. More generally, I wish we'd stop getting novels where the female protagonists are lost, helpless oftentimes privileged women who cannot figure their life out. The story of a near-40 year old trying to conceive, being cheated on and moving back to her parents' in the provinces had themes common to many other books I've read. Jane is Trying is charming, funny and down-to-earth story about starting over when the past just won't leave you alone.

I did enjoy the portrayal of mental health (mostly because I related quite a lot to the worrying and checking, ha), but it did feel a bit like it didn't really get much of a resolution, other than suddenly when the baby comes, everything is okay? Her anger and unwillingness to forgive her cheating husband or her suffocating relatives was very real, and I was rooting for her to be able to take that step away from her almost-forced dependency on others. Having been spoiled by the joyous radio series 'Isy Suttie's Love Letters', reading her writing without the addition of her wonderful narration meant that it took a little while for me to get into this book. Health anxiety and OCD come from the same place, I think, which is a need for control and certainty. Some of the tropes (overbearing mothers, interfering in-laws, rejection of one's rural upbringing) were a little tired but made a little richer by the addition of extreme anxiety over the top which felt like an accurate depiction.

There is some intricate commentary at play around mental health and agency, and I liked how Jane’s growth directly explored this. Before my dad died, Elis had asked his permission to marry me, which was amazing, but then never produced a ring or officially proposed. I literally wanted to slap the title character around the face on numerous occasions; not because of her OCD, but because at 38 she's still relying on the bank of mum and dad! At times i wanted to give Jane a shake and a talking too but I'm glad she pulled herself together and came out stronger at the end!

Kelly and Becca do point out that her situation will never be like theirs because of their socio-economic backgrounds, but rather than acknowledge her privilege, Jane behaves like a petulant teenager and proves to them that her struggles are valid by refusing her dad's financial support (which, again, is never fully explained why since she's meant to have had a successful career in London for several years! Nobody in the book was particularly likeable (apart from Kelly) and the course of events didn’t ring true. After finding out that her fiancé cheated on her, Jane finds herself back in her hometown and 'temporarily' sleeping in her childhood bedroom. sleeping at her friend's house and then moves into a dilapidated old hotel that a group of activists are trying to turn into a community centre.

This is a funny and sweet story about trying to start afresh when your past haunts you, and the realities of being an independent adult.

Don’t even get me started on the others… Monica the therapist, the friendship with Kelly… The characters were so silly and unbelievable. Well, Isy Suttie has pretty much emptied an entire quarry on poor Jane, the suddenly adrift late-thirtysomething at the heart of her debut novel. There were some delightfully funny moments scattered throughout the gloom and absurd bad luck Jane has to deal with but unfortunately I found Jane to fall flat as a narrator and couldn't fully get into the story - some of the characters were brilliantly written but not all and this made me drag at certain parts.Also shout out to the birthing scene, one of the few pieces of writing that's come close to making me actually laugh out loud. The character depiction is very similar to Love Letters, which I liked, but I just couldn’t root for the main character.