RELEASING JANET BY ALEX BANWELL

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The Burden of Truth, Family Unity, Grief, Understanding Epilepsy and Redemption in Alex Banwell’s ‘Releasing Janet’.
Genre: Christian Fiction
Publisher: Broad Place Publishing
Author: Alex Banwell
Book: Releasing Janet. Will the truth set her free?
Length:331 pages

This book is a deep and engrossing narrative that traces the root cause of hatred, fear, disunity and total breakdown of all filial and family ties in the once loving and closely knit Pew family of five. Janet Pew was then a child.  As an adult, Janet is married into the Wallander family. The read explores the spiritual and emotional evolution of family members from both families. From unforgiveness, secrets, betrayal, grief, and relational disintegration through their flaws to forgiveness and divine redemption. The book is a reconstruction of love, acceptance, courage, self-evaluation and building broken bridges in family relationships - The Pews and the Wellanders.

In reading this novel, readers are invited to weigh the cost of mismanaging grief and its consequences. It broaches several themes such as memories, family, relationships, epilepsy, death, love, truth and grief. I love reading fiction that opens my eyes to new revelations and insights. A central theme in the novel, which I find connecting all family members, is unconfessed truth and grief, which can destroy anyone, just as cancer destroys a body. Janet, her parents, her siblings, her husband and her children were released from this spiritual death.

The author shows how Janet is like a medicine and a cure that has been released to all her affected family members, including herself. The healing begins with the repair of trust, intimacy, faith, family reunion and self-discovery for each character in this book. The consequences of Janet’s father’s keeping a secret from Janet, when she was a child, had a domino effect on the entire family. This points to the last paragraph in Chapter 29 – ‘The Truth shall set you free’[ John 8:32] Banwell weaves this biblical principle so beautifully through the plot, characters and the symbolism of an old picture of Sylvia, which leads Janet, now an adult, to reveal a secret that had burdened her for thirty years!

The plot takes readers from Janet’s confession to how each family member reacts, leading to their confessions. The plot exposes their human strengths and frailties. I get to learn deeper about personality types and how that singular act of Janet releasing her secret sets the ball rolling. Characters have back stories that help explain their personality, individual reactions and life choices, adding depth and meaning to the themes raised. How and what killed Sylvia leads readers, like Janet, to go on a detective quest to find this truth! Can this truth destroy Janet or release her into what? How does what she finds out affect all family members?

Alex Banwell’s character crafting is commendable. It reveals her literary strength.  This narrative seems like it’s semi-fiction. Characters are crafted to symbolise certain ideals significant to their roles. This is deliberate.  It makes them so true to life. Pastor Tim gives pastoral guidance, rekindles and nurtures faith. Ola is a personality type and a husband-and-father model. Nettie is a single teenage mother and stands for strength, hope, encouragement, and her curiosity helps move the plot forward. Benny is a teenage epileptic, but has courage, hope and faith.  Janet’s parents accept change and show how their secrets led to damaging consequences. Janet symbolises self-release, parenting a disabled child, grief and relationships. Beth represents the innocence and sweetness of childhood. Sylvia represents a gift which should not be worshipped or loved above God.

Readers are led to think deeply about the novel’s title through each character. It’s not just about releasing Janet back to her family and her healing. It is also about highlighting the negative consequences of being burdened by secrets, needless grief, wrong parenting of a disabled child and losing faith when a calamity happens in the family. In ‘Releasing Janet’, actions are not delayed, conversations move the plot swiftly, and readers are not plagued with excess moral commentary and internal reflections. They are kept expectantly on their toes, waiting eagerly as the next page is turned.

The narrative engages readers with surprising turns, revelations, and subplots that give a fresh insight into each character and the themes raised.  This allows this book to appeal to a broader literary audience, not just Christians. Its themes on the burden of secrets, death, grief, the fragility of trust and the benefits of spiritual growth or its decline are relatable. Readers will find this book engaging, engrossing and enjoyable. I highly recommend  it because it's worth its five stars.
 
https://www.robseabrook.com/releasing-janet-alex-banwell/#:~:text=Releasing%20Janet%2C%20by%20Alex%20Banwell%2C%20is%20available%20here.
 
To buy your own copy, visit Alex’s publisher’s website:   https://broadplacepublishing.co.uk, or from Amazon here.










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