Sad Janet

Lucie Britsch’s Sad Janet tells the tale of Janet. Who is, yes, sad. Janet, who works at an animal shelter, has no intention of trying to be happy. Her family and boyfriend try to intervene, trying to convince her to go on anti-depressants, but she refuses. She finally gives in, one day, when her doctor recommends a “Christmas Pill” — a pill you start taking eight weeks before Christmas, so by the time you get to the holiday, it is tolerable. Janet is supremely self-aware, and this is what propels the novel; she knows that she is sad, she knows she is depressed, but she just doesn’t want to do anything about it. She likes her life. It is funny and touching and highlights some very real truths about what it means to be a sad woman in our world.

I loved this review from Shelf Awareness: “The narrative voice of Janet in Britsch’s debut novel is a skin-tingling combination of new and necessary. Sadness is not situational for Janet; rather, it is a way of being in response to the difficulty of living. Janet’s countercultural aspirations—to not have a boyfriend, not own a house, not reproduce, and not have a job with a future—bedevil everyone she knows, in particular her mother... This book and this character are radical, and readers are likely to feel a relief at reading the thoughts they’ve had but not spoken.”

Rating: ★★★★