Jane & The Red Parts – Old Paper & Cats, Reviews by S. Hargrave

But Why Are the Mosquitos Still Here?

I and my lovely spouse have finally begun to get back to hikes since the weather has cooled off. I was hoping that the bugs would also be gone, but that isn’t what happened. Yesterday we spent an hour and a half on the trail and we both came home covered in mosquito bites. Ugh. But it’s colder? But the heat came on yesterday morning? Shouldn’t they be gone?

No. They are going to hang on for as long as possible and bite me in the most annoying places and I will wonder why insects are the last thing to realize that their season is over.

Jane: A Murder is a softcover book with a picture of a young woman with pale skin and close-cropped brown hair standing in the sun. The Red Parts is a softcover book with a black cover and white and red text.

Two Books, One Case

For the final post of September, I decided on a double feature both written by Maggie Nelson — Jane and The Red Parts. Jane tells the story of Nelson’s aunt, Jane, who was murdered before she was born. The Red Parts, written about ten years later, tells the story of the trial of Jane’s killer who was only found after a very long-awaited DNA match.

Both books are written in Nelson’s unique style blending events with imagination and memoir with analysis as the writer looks back on her feelings and examines concepts of closure as well as justice.

The Red Parts: Autobiography of a Trial is a black softcover book with white font by Maggie Nelson. It lies beside a grumpy calico tabby that's trying to sleep.

Poetry and Memory

Of the two books, I found Jane the more powerful and the more poetic. Nelson weaves in poetry inspired by her aunt’s diaries and the case file in order to give us some of Jane’s words. It gives life to this rather harrowing story of random and brutal violence, bringing humanity to what often just becomes statistics of cruelty. Nelson is truly invested in exploring her aunt as a person before analysing her eventual destiny as a murder victim.

Jane is a meditation not just on absence, but on a life that could have been and might have not only changed Nelson’s family and her childhood, but also the world in general.

A tabby cat leans over a copy of Jane: A Murder by Maggie Nelson.

Is Anything Truly Over?

A tabby cat leans against the spine of The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson.

Thirty-five years after her aunt’s murder, Nelson received a phone call telling her that the case had been reopened on the grounds of a DNA match. What ensued was a trial and a justice long delayed. Nelson goes through the motions of the trial and the toll it takes on the family. While She wants the perpetrator to be caught and punished, she struggles with the sense that this punishment does not solve the absence of her aunt or the impact of the crime. What exactly is closure and is it even something achievable?

Nelson also talks about research into her aunt’s case and the way that others, including amateurs, have commented on it. With the rise of the beast that is the true crime genre of podcasts, books, and media, these discussions are more relevant than ever.

A calico tabby sleep peacefully in a domed bed beside two books by Maggie Nelson.

Spooky Season in the Air

It’s been a long wait, but the Food Network special programming is on — Halloween Wars and Halloween Baking Championship — and we’ve switched out the DVDs in the cabinet so we can start watching our favourite classics — Bugs Bunny’s Howl-oween and anything spooky with Vincent Price. It’s time to celebrate fall and All Hallow’s Eve. This season is going to be a busy one but I’m looking forward to all of the fun it promises to bring.

Look for spooky reviews starting next week!