Jane Doe January: My Twenty-Year Search for Truth and Justice

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Emily Winslow was a young drama student at an elite conservatory in Pittsburgh when she was brutally raped one night in January 1992. Twenty years later, a man was arrested in New York City. His DNA, recorded in the FBIs criminal database because of an old drug conviction, had been matched to evidence from another 1992 rape that was similar to Winslows, and the police were able to link the crimes. The victimsone from January of that year, the other from Novemberwere kept anonymous in the media. This is the story of Jane Doe January.

Now a happily married mother of two living in Cambridge, England, Winslow had longed to face her attacker for years. Highly inquisitive and restless for answers, she turned her career as a crime novelist into a personal investigationshe delved into his past, reconnected with the detectives of her case, and worked with prosecutors in the months leading up to the trial. While preparing to testify back in Pennsylvania for the crime committed against her two decades prior, she was pulled between two very different worlds: a hard-boiled American drama of intense detectives and legal bureaucracy, and her rarefied new world in Cambridge, where the universitys rituals and pervasive formality were both a comfort and a challenge.

Jane Doe January is the intimate memoir of a womans traumatic past catching up with her. In her first work of nonfiction, Winslow vividly recounts her long quest to see her case resolved, giving way to a strikingly honest narrative about the surprise possibility of justice after twenty years.

Reviews

"With a shocking twist that rivals the best that fiction has to offer, this book is a triumph of heart over unbearable hurt. Everyone should read it." -- Sophie Hannah, author of The Monogram Murders "In JANE DOE JANUARY, Emily Winslow has created a new genre. This book unwinds like a page-turning mystery novel while, with gut-wrenching perspective, it embodies the most elegant of personal journalism. I've never read anything like it." -- Julia Heaberlin, author of Black-Eyed Susans "This factual, fascinating and forensically cool memoir lays out the legal process almost as a police procedural. Then each time Winslow puts aside her detachment to express rage, contempt, impatience, love and gratitude, the memoir takes on a devastating emotional white heat. JANE DOE JANUARY had me gripped and furious." -- Eliza Graham, author of The One I Was "JANE DOE JANUARY should be required reading for any person who is in a position to interact with victims of crimes." -- Retired Commander Bill Valenta of the Pittsburgh Police, the original detective from the case "JANE DOE JANUARY is an extraordinary memoir, written with the skill of a master novelist in beautiful, haunting prose. This story should prompt serious discussion and is one of the most important memoirs on sexual assault you will ever read. Her courage in telling it is breathtaking." -- Allison Leotta, author of A Good Killing and a former sex-crimes prosecutor for Washington DC "A powerful memoir of survival from a great writer." -- Lisa Gardner, author of Crash and Burn "This riveting, courageous story would be unbelievable if it weren't so heartbreakingly true. Told in elegant-yet-unflinching style by a writer of considerable skill, JANE DOE JANUARY is one of the most compelling memoirs you will ever read." -- Brad Parks, author of The Fraud "Winslow's precision and clarity disallow us the easy exit of 'I can't imagine...' You don't have to imagine. She's drawn an eloquent, exacting map of what it feels like to dangle on the whims of justice. Life is a finer thing when we understand." -- Jamie Mason, author of Monday's Lie "The sheer bravery of the memoir alongside the lyrical writing style make it a compelling and ultimately uplifting read." -- Kate Rhodes, author of The Winter Foundlings "Brilliant, gorgeously written, and utterly chilling." -- Carla Buckley, author of The Deepest Secret "This important chronicle answers the question, does it serve justice to put a man on trial for a 20-year-old crime...This eloquent memoir will be appreciated by anyone interested in cold case investigations and victim advocacy as well as true crime fans." -- Library Journal (starred review) "With remarkable emotional insight and precision, mystery writer Winslow turns to memoir...Powerfully redemptive." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Urgently written with forthright prose, the memoir's serpentine suspense elements resemble the plot points seen in the kind of crime fiction the author writes herself... Potently rendered." -- Kirkus "Winslow channels her rage into this meticulously constructed and ultimately terrifying memoir." -- New York Times Book Review "Searingly honest, poetic, heartbreaking, yet ultimately uplifting." -- Menna van Praag, author of The Witches of Cambridge "Winslow's muscular, evocative, and achingly honest voice is unforgettable." -- Amanda Kyle Williams, author of Don't Talk to Strangers

Author Bio

Emily Winslow is an American living in Cambridge, England. She is the author of the novels The Whole World, The Start Of Everything, and The Red House.