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Greetings from Janeland: Women Write More About Leaving Men for Women
Sequel to Dear John, I Love Jane, Janeland features more essays about women who leave men for relationships with other women.
270 pages, Paperback
Published November 14, 2017
31 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
About the author
Candace Walsh
10 books46 followersCandace Walsh is the author of Licking the Spoon: A Memoir of Food, Family, and Identity (Seal Press, 2012). She is also the editor of two anthologies, Dear John, I Love Jane; and Ask Me About My Divorce, both by Seal Press. She writes the Good Taste column at AfterEllen.com, and is the managing editor at New Mexico Magazine. She was the features editor at Mothering Magazine for 6 years. She lives with her family in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 20, 2019
The tl;dr:
Worth reading? Yes.
Swift read or a trudge? Swift and engrossing.
Recommended? Yes.
Read again? Yes.
You know the moment you hear/read someone's truth, their story from their own voice, and it's pure and heartfelt and beautiful in all its colors?
Do you ever kind of feel like your soul lets out this little sigh then? Like, I see you.
Everyone faces their own search for truth; in all it's grandiose and miniscule senses. Some discover the varied pieces of themselves early; others not so much. Whether any part of those pieces relate to gender or sexuality is beside (or better stated, a part of) this particular overall point.
We all want truth.
I bought and began reading this book on a whim of, "Yeah, I'd like to read something that might actually reflect a piece of my own personal story."
At the core of this book is the search and discovery of identity; and what these many voices faced along the way. All the colors and pieces. Little bits. Big chunks.
Did I find pieces of myself reflected in the colors here? Yes, in surprising places and varied hues.
Did the book deliver those pieces in an engrossing and well put together way? Yes, a veritable tapestry.
The styles of prose ranged, as they’ll do from a variety of authors, but the quality varied within a tight spectrum. Nothing I found error-wise was noteworthy enough to break my immersion in the truths these women had to tell. And each one fit.
Louise A. Blum “...the space between a curse and a blessing is measured only by perspective and by choice.”
Worth reading? Yes.
Swift read or a trudge? Swift and engrossing.
Recommended? Yes.
Read again? Yes.
You know the moment you hear/read someone's truth, their story from their own voice, and it's pure and heartfelt and beautiful in all its colors?
Do you ever kind of feel like your soul lets out this little sigh then? Like, I see you.
Everyone faces their own search for truth; in all it's grandiose and miniscule senses. Some discover the varied pieces of themselves early; others not so much. Whether any part of those pieces relate to gender or sexuality is beside (or better stated, a part of) this particular overall point.
We all want truth.
I bought and began reading this book on a whim of, "Yeah, I'd like to read something that might actually reflect a piece of my own personal story."
At the core of this book is the search and discovery of identity; and what these many voices faced along the way. All the colors and pieces. Little bits. Big chunks.
Did I find pieces of myself reflected in the colors here? Yes, in surprising places and varied hues.
Did the book deliver those pieces in an engrossing and well put together way? Yes, a veritable tapestry.
The styles of prose ranged, as they’ll do from a variety of authors, but the quality varied within a tight spectrum. Nothing I found error-wise was noteworthy enough to break my immersion in the truths these women had to tell. And each one fit.
Louise A. Blum “...the space between a curse and a blessing is measured only by perspective and by choice.”
February 15, 2021
It’s probably unfair to expect any book to live up to the place that Dear John, I Love Jane occupies in my heart. I was uniquely positioned to be touched and moved by that book, just beginning to poke a toe out of the closet and start to consider that I might not be straight, while in a long-term relationship with a man. The first time I read it, though the essays weren’t all perfect of course, I felt such relief, such an overwhelming sense of being seen and known. I thought, there’s something here, and there was. Every subsequent reading—and there have been many—has filled me with equally moving emotions.
Greetings from Janeland couldn’t hold a candle to that, but I shouldn’t have expected it to. I’m not in the same place anymore. I’m single, fully out (though my identity is undergoing another radical shift), comfortable with myself and my desires. But still, the essays here are engrossing, thought-provoking, entertaining. I like that there is more diversity in this sequel than there was in the original, both in terms of race and of gender expression. I enjoyed reading about old familiar friends from the first anthology continuing on their journeys, as well as meeting new ones just beginning. I was never bored, and I’m certain that I’ll read it again.
The only reason I gave it 4 stars rather than 5 is that I rate books according to my personal feelings about them, not an objective score, and this just didn’t immediately entrance me the way Dear John did. It’s not really a fault of the book itself, so perhaps it’s an unfair rating, but it’s the one that feels true.
Greetings from Janeland couldn’t hold a candle to that, but I shouldn’t have expected it to. I’m not in the same place anymore. I’m single, fully out (though my identity is undergoing another radical shift), comfortable with myself and my desires. But still, the essays here are engrossing, thought-provoking, entertaining. I like that there is more diversity in this sequel than there was in the original, both in terms of race and of gender expression. I enjoyed reading about old familiar friends from the first anthology continuing on their journeys, as well as meeting new ones just beginning. I was never bored, and I’m certain that I’ll read it again.
The only reason I gave it 4 stars rather than 5 is that I rate books according to my personal feelings about them, not an objective score, and this just didn’t immediately entrance me the way Dear John did. It’s not really a fault of the book itself, so perhaps it’s an unfair rating, but it’s the one that feels true.
May 31, 2020
Honest, touching, relatable, personal and universal, hopeful, real
Everyone's journey and experience is different and just as valid as the next
Everyone's journey and experience is different and just as valid as the next
December 8, 2023
Interesting concept for a book. I enjoyed hearing the life story of so many women that discovered later in life that they preferred someone other than their original chosen partner.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews