Normally dependable Jo takes a flight to India to get away from her dysfunctional family and possessive boyfriend.
A long train journey up into the Himalayas takes her to her final destination, the serene and peaceful Jasanghari retreat.
Discovering new skills and making close friendships, Jo starts to unravel the inner turmoil that drove her to leave without telling a soul.
Unexpected challenges push her evolving peace of mind to the limit and put the quest for happiness in jeopardy.
Finding Jo offers an insight into the misunderstandings, resentment and grievances that build up in close relationships. Can they be healed?
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Getting away from it all
Getting away from it all sounds like a wonderful dream, an illusion, escapism. When I was a young adult, I always wanted to travel to foreign lands for protracted lengths of time. Not because I was trying to get away from something, but because I had such a desire to travel, to see the world, to have adventures and meet lots of people from different countries.
In my early 20s I would often leave work in the summer and take two to three months away in Europe, usually ending up on a sun-soaked beach in Greece. My biggest “escape” was when I travelled through India for three months on a shoestring and with no well thought out itinerary. I now realise that my Indian experience was an influence for me to draw on when writing Finding Jo.
Life these days is more stressful than it was in the past, as we live at a fast pace and people with a good career don’t risk dropping in and out of work. This means that these dreams of escape are more of a fantasy. Of course, there are those who need to get away from a dysfunctional family as Jo did, so she left without telling anyone and went to a retreat in the Himalayas.
In Finding Jo, she said, ‘I’d felt trapped and unable to deal with it. I couldn’t stand up to them. And I had this guy, a boyfriend, who, well it went on for a few years. It wasn’t going anywhere, and I didn’t feel I could get away from him.’
She couldn’t find a solution to the overly possessive boyfriend and the toxic relationships within her original family. There were things going on beneath the surface of her family that she didn’t know about, let alone understand. Perhaps it was cowardly but she felt she had to go far away to escape it all. This was not just a dream. As a single woman she was free enough to make it a reality.
Even if she didn’t miss them, they certainly missed her more than any of them would have realised. Her leaving acted as a catalyst for her family and prompted two more of them to get away. Her mother, in a long tedious marriage which went wrong years before, seems to find that Jo’s departure lifts her spirits. If Jo can do it why not Maggie? Beset by depression, but no longer responsible for children, she takes a decision which surprises everyone around her and leaves her husband truly shocked.
Getting away from people can bring about change – a change is as good as a rest. It can give all those involved a chance to mull over their relationships, to miss the person who has gone. It’s like having a new start, and on return it is often possible to reset your life and the dynamics with those around you. Relationships can change.
Ultimately, it’s true to say that you don’t have to run away to find that inner peace. In today’s world there is so much emphasis on relaxation, mindfulness, meditation, sport and activity to enhance and ensure positive mental health. Also, there are plenty of people who cannot possibly get away. They can’t afford it, they have families who need them, and they would see it as an indulgent luxury. For everybody, it is important to try to find the peace inside ourselves and be happy with our lot (provided it isn’t a toxic situation). Many of us put a lot of fruitless effort into changing others to suit our own needs, but we can’t. All we can change is ourselves – how we perceive, react and whether or not we accept people as they are.
Jo found the best of both worlds – she was in a relaxing environment where it was normal to do yoga and meditation and she was far away from home. But she couldn’t stay there forever.
Frances Ive
Finding Jo
A career as a journalist led to health writing for UK national newspapers and consumer magazines, and various non-fiction books. Frances’ first novel, Finding Jo, influenced by travels in India, took some years to come to fruition. It was published on Amazon in 2021.
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