The Strange Case of Jane O

Walker (The Dreamers) often juxtaposes the past and what might be the future, to create stories that feel both visceral and luminous. In Walker’s new novel, Jane experiences amnesia, premonitions, hallucinations and more during the first year of her single motherhood. Jane goes to see a psychiatrist, who tries to determine why she’s having these experiences, but the mystery eventually makes him question reality too. They tell their separate yet increasingly—and somewhat pathologically—linked stories, which touch on how what is missing multiplies, proliferating in memory. Walker examines mental health through multiple lenses, and she deftly layers the brighter moments with the ones that are decidedly the opposite. At once quiet and intense, the novel takes an unexpected turn during its final chapters that begs its audience to reread in search of clues.