Sonder: Janie’s Story

Downtown New York City in the 1970's and 80's is a dark and dangerous place for Janie Thompson.

Her indifferent parents give her little guidance, and leave her older brother, the only person who truly loves her, no choice but to run away. Her working-class Queens neighborhood offers too many opportunities to fail, and several of her closest friends fall victim. Janie needs to get away and moves to Greenwich Village to attend New York University. Her doubts follow her and derail her trajectory. She finds herself unequipped to make her way through the temptations and pitfalls of the era; at every turn she is in and out of danger. The journey takes her deep into rabbit holes as she tries to navigate a path through before it is too late.

A "sonder," the realization that she is not truly alone, may be the only thing that saves her. Janie calls herself "a solitary part of a million-piece jigsaw puzzle whose cover picture she could not see." If she can truly "see" the people around her and learn from them, she might be able to survive.