Reasonable Cause to Suspect - by Sally Lane (Paperback)

About the Book

After Jack Letts went to Syria as an idealistic 18-year-old, his parents faced a savaging from the tabloid press. They sent him a small amount of money to try to help him leave and were arrested and convicted of supporting terrorism. Despite any evidence that Jack was a member of a terrorist group, he remains imprisoned in a Kurdish jail.

Book Synopsis

After Jack Letts went to Syria as an idealistic 18-year-old, his parents faced a savaging from the tabloid press. They sent him a small amount of money to try to help him leave and were arrested and convicted of supporting terrorism. Despite any evidence that Jack was a member of a terrorist group, he remains imprisoned in a Kurdish jail.

Review Quotes

Reasonable Cause to Suspect takes you on a gut-wrenching journey through the eyes of a devoted mother, Sally Lane. As she weaves her way through the legal and political systems and the unimaginable atrocities in Syria, Sally is determined to hold her son, Jack, in her arms again. At every turn, you need to remind yourself this story has not been dreamt up as fiction but rather is a real-life nightmare where despair and hope clash. You will never forget Jack's story and his mother's unwavering love and fierce commitment.

(An) impassioned document...not an unbiased account of a complex, high-profile case, but instead a chronicle of pain and fury from a mother who has lost her son and the life she once knew.

A nightmare, all around, told in this compelling memoir.

A timely and compelling account...Whether as a story of family solidarity and trust or as a case study in issues of justice and the rule of law, Reasonable Cause to Suspect is worth reading.

I have been witnessing the pain and courage of the Letts for many years. Sally, Jack's mother is a mother everyone should have. This book is another step in that fight for justice for Jack and others. Western citizens, so long consumed by a narrative of Muslim terrorism, have allowed the powerful to take liberties with our liberties. More of us need to stand with the parents and young people who were or are caught between Islamicists and state agents.

This book details deep loss in a Kafkaesque political landscape with surprising clarity, ironic humour and sobriety. Sally Lane lost her son to a war zone, and then to religious fervour, and now governmental inaction leaves him in an unending prison sentence - showing our democratic government's totalitarian stance on those it accuses as terror suspects, who once labelled, suffer an ongoing suspension of due process and are forever seen as guilty without trial. Who among us would not try to bring a family member home? The family has not given up.

This book is a courageous refusal to submit to the violence of cold, indifferent bureaucracy. For this simple drive to hold onto that which is so dear to her, Sally and her family have been effectively unpeopled by the well-oiled stigmatising mechanisms within this society. She lays out in detail the sophisticated system of manipulation that rendered her family rightless. Bring Jack home. Enough is enough.

This is an extraordinary tale...a testament to an ordinary parent's unconditional love for a child told with candour and courage. A gripping read.

Reasonable Cause to Suspect takes you on a gut-wrenching journey through the eyes of a devoted mother, Sally Lane. As she weaves her way through the legal and political systems and the unimaginable atrocities in Syria, Sally is determined to hold her son, Jack, in her arms again. At every turn, you need to remind yourself this story has not been dreamt up as fiction but rather is a real-life nightmare where despair and hope clash. You will never forget Jack's story and his mother's unwavering love and fierce commitment.-- "Sam Laprade, host of The Sam Laprade Show and CityNews Ottawa 101.1 FM"

(An) impassioned document...not an unbiased account of a complex, high-profile case, but instead a chronicle of pain and fury from a mother who has lost her son and the life she once knew.-- "Quill & Quire"

A nightmare, all around, told in this compelling memoir.-- "Globe and Mail"

A timely and compelling account...Whether as a story of family solidarity and trust or as a case study in issues of justice and the rule of law, Reasonable Cause to Suspect is worth reading.-- "Winnipeg Free Press"

I have been witnessing the pain and courage of the Letts for many years. Sally, Jack's mother is a mother everyone should have. This book is another step in that fight for justice for Jack and others. Western citizens, so long consumed by a narrative of Muslim terrorism, have allowed the powerful to take liberties with our liberties. More of us need to stand with the parents and young people who were or are caught between Islamicists and state agents.-- "Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, journalist and author"

This book details deep loss in a Kafkaesque political landscape with surprising clarity, ironic humour and sobriety. Sally Lane lost her son to a war zone, and then to religious fervour, and now governmental inaction leaves him in an unending prison sentence -- showing our democratic government's totalitarian stance on those it accuses as terror suspects, who once labelled, suffer an ongoing suspension of due process and are forever seen as guilty without trial. Who among us would not try to bring a family member home? The family has not given up.-- "David Gow, Canadian playwright, Relative Good"

This book is a courageous refusal to submit to the violence of cold, indifferent bureaucracy. For this simple drive to hold onto that which is so dear to her, Sally and her family have been effectively unpeopled by the well-oiled stigmatising mechanisms within this society. She lays out in detail the sophisticated system of manipulation that rendered her family rightless. Bring Jack home. Enough is enough.-- "Lowkey, rapper and activist"

This is an extraordinary tale...a testament to an ordinary parent's unconditional love for a child told with candour and courage. A gripping read.-- "Adrian Harewood, Canadian journalist and professor"

About the Author

Sally Lane and her husband, John Letts, were prosecuted in the U.K. under terrorism legislation for trying to help their son escape a war zone. They were given a suspended sentence of fifteen months in 2019. Sally now lives in Ottawa