She Was

A well written book about the wars that we fight on a national, international and personal front. Seen through the lens of a protester whose actions led to the violence and death that she wanted to end, I did not come away from it feeling that the choices she made were held up to be applauded. War, be it in Vietnam, Iraq or in the streets of the USA, is never what what people think it will be and nobody comes through it unscathed. Having been actively involved in student protests during this time, it was easy for me to connect with not only Doreen, but with the complexity of issues and personalities presented in the book. (this is not to say that you "had to have been there" to appreciate the novel) I agree with another reviewer that the author's attempts to hit every social issue from immigration to gender discrimination was a tad overdone, but it did not detract from overall story.

Janis Hallowell's second book is a true pageturner. Doreen Woods's past is about to become her future. One of best characters in the book is Doreen's gay brother Adam. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well-written novel that cast a clear eye on our recent history, and the role it plays in our lives today. EXCELLENT READ

I love Janis Hallowell's new novel, She Was. It's a magnetic story about a dentist named Doreen Woods who lives a quiet life in Denver, Colorado, devoted to her husband, teenaged son, and dying brother, a Vietnam vet. In spite of all the examples we are provided with about Doreen's caring and thoughtful way of life, we feel uneasy: Doreen seems prickly, anxious, uncomfortable. Why? Well, she has a secret. Her life is completely fabricated, an identity created after an violent act of Vietnam war protest over 30 years ago goes fatally wrong. Left hanging by her co-conspirators, Lucy Johansson escapes into her new identity as Doreen Woods, starting over with her brother Adam and making a new life for herself that even her husband and son will know nothing about. This life unravels as a comrade from the past shows up to trade Doreen to the Feds in exchange for her own husband's freedom. Doreen's portrait and those of her family are drawn beautifully by Hallowell's sure hands, and as the week unfolds, complexity blurs the lines between right and wrong. Could a loving family accept sudden revelation of a hidden identity? If a person lives with the horrors of war, do they ever really go away? If a single defining act in one's life ends horribly, can a person ever atone? I kept thinking I knew how I would react, what I would do, but the truth is, I don't know. The beauty of She Was allows those questions to surface along with the gripping story surrounding them.

This new novel by Janis Hallowell hauntingly redefines the concept of "broken family." A 60s radical goes underground, reinvents herself, and tries to live a normal if completely fraudulent life. Then a former co-conspirator finds her, and all hell breaks loose. Hallowell's true gift as a writer lies in her ability to create a character who can make you mad as hell but still garner your sympathy. We all make mistakes and do dumb things, but how many of us have to pay for the rest of our lives? Doreen's comfortable life is a house of cards just waiting to fall. And it's not just Doreen who'll feel the blow -- Hallowell's scenes showing Doreen with her husband and son are heartbreaking. Of course, SHE WAS will really appeal to you if you happened to grow up during the sixties/seventies. (Got a high school reunion coming up?) But even if you didn't, SHE WAS stands by itself as a riveting and provocative read. (Of course, now I'm anxious to go back and read Hallowell's first novel, THE ANNUNCIATION OF FRANCESCA DUNN - another treat, as I see from other reviews.)

A writer of extraordinary range, Janis Hallowell has followed up her lovely and mystical first novel - The Annunciation of Francesca Dunn - with She Was, a tale of personal politics that grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go. Doreen Woods leads the most apolitical life imaginable on a quiet street in Denver . She's married to the gentlest husband imaginable, has a perfectly nice son, and is a DENTIST, of all things. But it is a fabricated life, and the week in which Doreen's carefully constructed existence gets upended is the setting for She Was. Along the way, we visit wartime Viet Nam through the eyes of Doreen's ex-marine brother, and get a tour of the changes in our political landscape since the sixties. Back then, war was opposed vocally, dramatically, and sometimes violently. Now, as She Was subtly points out, an equally senseless war is being met with a great silence. In a sense, Doreen's quiet life is a metaphor for the lives of most left-leaning members of the middle class - politically, we've gone underground. Anyway, it's a great, fast, rollicking read. Janis Hallowell has delivered a second gem.