Of Love & Life & Loss

Releasing Janet by Alex Banwell is a powerful and heart-wrenching contemporary Christian novel that consumed me from the start. This book is incredible. It is so good that it is hard to know just what to pick out. It is all excellent.

This is the follow-on book to Just Benny. It can be read as a stand-alone but I recommend reading the books in order for character progression, development and understanding.

Releasing Janet is such a beautiful novel. It is about love, and loss, and a family who lost their way, each living isolated lives but under the same roof. A tragic event tore the family apart. Grief and guilt set in. Everyone stopped talking. Healing halted. Life as they knew it was ripped apart. “She stole our joy, and without her, we only existed.”

It may seem strange to declare a book about loss, ‘beautiful’, but it is. The beauty comes from the love that is found in the purest of hearts – namely children – young Janet and Beth. Their zest for life is infectious and makes the reader smile.

Benny is another character who sees life very much in simplistic terms. He is a sixteen-year-old who has battled epilepsy his whole life. He knows just what he likes and just who he loves. He is a character with a huge hear. He is a gentle soul. It is beautiful to witness his interactions with, and love for, two-year-old Beth.

The focus of this book is Benny’s mother Janet. She has lived life under a cloud since aged eleven. Following a devastating event, Janet has piled guilt on herself. Her guilt has dominated her whole way of thinking and behaving. If only someone had told her the truth when she was eleven, her life would have been so mush easier. As Benny says, we must tell the truth even if it is hard.

Janet’s faith in God dwindled. “I was no longer convinced of God’s love. My faith crumbled at the graveside.” It will take many years in the dark, before an invitation to church from Benny, awakens his mother’s faith again. “You listened, so give yourself grace… Jesus looks at your heart, and your heart is seeking after Him.”

Families are complicated affairs. Life happens and they sink or swim. Alex Banwell has brought two families to life with her words. Janet is the bridge between them as she is the daughter in one group, and the mother in the other.

We understand Janet’s fears, having seen her as a bubbly child experiencing rejection through no fault of her own. “The sadness took over until it was easier to hide in my room and read. Perhaps I was disappointed in God.” We see her excelling as Benny’s mother, and ‘feel’ her anguish as he becomes more independent and she wonders, “Could Janet Wellander dare imagine being more than Benny’s mother?”

Alex Banwell has created a powerful novel that will tear at your heart. We ‘feel’ the pain and the love and the loss. We delight in Benny’s continued growing in character. We see a God who longs to heal hearts and who waits for hearts to return to Him.

Releasing Janet is such a beautiful book. It will tear your emotions to pieces but ultimately you will feel serene peace as you witness the redemptive power of love.

I will leave you with my favourite quote:

Heaven felt so real when you were alive.”

I received a free copy from the author. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

JULIA WILSON