Janeology by Karen Harrington

From Amazon

Tom Nelson, a Texas academic, is devastated when his wife, Jane, drowns their two-year-old son and almost kills the boy’s twin sister in Harrington’s uneven debut. To Tom, Jane’s violent act was inconceivable and impossible to predict, but after she’s found not guilty by reason of insanity, he becomes the object of vilification and, eventually, criminal prosecution for child endangerment and neglect. The novel alternates between Tom’s trial and flashbacks that include the efforts of Jane’s clairvoyant relative, Mariah Hernandez, to recover the events in Jane’s past and in her ancestors’ lives that may have predisposed her to kill. Mariah’s visions—flashbacks within flashbacks—distract from the main plot, while those interested in the legal issues may be put off by such amateurish mistakes as the prosecutor calling Tom to the stand in apparent ignorance of the Fifth Amendment. At her best in conveying Tom’s despair, the author fails to do full justice to the complex and fraught subject of maternal filicide.

This is not your typical “ripped from the headline” story of a mother who kills her child in the midst of a depressive episode. It turns into a tale of a husband who is then put on trial himself , to be held for his own accountability in the death of his child. He wasn’t even at home at the time of the killing, put the prosecutors go after him because he should have known his wife wasn’t stable and they feel he did nothing to stop it! Is he responsible for his wife’s actions??? Is she even responsible? His attorney has a very ingenious approach to getting his client off. As someone who has a degree in Early Childhood Education, I have always found the whole debate of ‘nature vs. nurture‘ very interesting. Is someone predisposed to violence because their ancestors were violent? Or because of the way they were raised (be it by their natural parents or through adoption). Ms. Harrington doesn’t answer the typical mystery question of who or how….but of why? A unique twist on an old genre. A powerful story that will leave Tom & Jane with you long after you finish the book. A