Janet L. Finn
Author • Educator • Social Justice Advocate
Meet Janet L. Finn
Janet L. Finn is an author, educator, and lifelong advocate for social justice. Her work explores the lived experiences of people and communities shaped by labor, gender, childhood, and resistance — from the copper veins of Butte, Montana to the political landscapes of Chile. With roots in social work and cultural anthropology, Janet’s writing blends scholarship with deep empathy and storytelling that brings overlooked voices to the forefront.
For over three decades, she has taught and written about what it means to build community in the face of injustice. Her books invite readers to see the world differently — through the eyes of children, miners, women, and activists whose stories challenge and inspire.
Past Works
New Book Project
Pie in The Sky
A debut novel by Janet L. Finn
In her first work of fiction, Janet L. Finn brings decades of storytelling and social justice scholarship to life in a sweeping novel about struggle, solidarity, and unexpected connection.
Pie in The Sky follows the intersecting journeys of two young women — one from Butte, Montana, the other from Santiago — whose lives collide amidst the political upheaval of 1970s Chile. Against the backdrop of labor movements, mining life, and the rising hope of social change, their friendship sparks a story of courage, loss, and transformation that crosses borders and generations.
Grounded in rich historical detail and emotional depth, this is a novel about finding common ground in uncommon places — and the power of human connection to shape the future.
Praise for Pie in the Sky, a novel by Janet L. Finn
"Only Janet Finn could mine the seam of this story between continents and decades, with rich treasure for the reader."
- Michael Punke, Author of Fire & Brimstone: The North Butte Disaster of 1917 and The Revenant
“With clarity and a full heart, Janet Finn has written an epic novel that transcends time and space. The dark shadow of the 1960’s Anaconda Copper Mining Company stretched from Montana to Chile. Caught in that oppression, two women, thousands of miles apart, fight for fairness and the dignity of all people. Marisol and Frankie meet under the tyranny of tear gas and guns when a peaceful protest in Santiago takes a cruel turn. In vivid detail, Pie in the Sky addresses the brutal tragedy of political violence in 1970’s Chile and the two women’s remarkable courage. Pie in the Sky is a brilliant piece of writing, education, and storytelling. It is a deeply human novel about love, resilience, and the willingness to pay the ultimate price in the unbreakable pursuit of justice.”
-Milana Marsenich, author of Copper Sky and Beautiful Ghost
“Only someone intimate with the gut-wrenching histories of Chile and Butte could have written Pie in the Sky. Janet Finn is that person. Her characters Marisol, Frankie, and their families bring a human lens to the decades of struggle in both places with Anaconda, the domineering copper company born in Butte. Their stories, continents apart but deeply connected, make for a riveting and redemptive read.”
-Beth Judy, Author of Bold Women in Montana History
“Corporate greed, political disinformation, state-sponsored violence against civilians. Finn is not writing about the U.S. in 2026, but about two young women, Frankie and Marisol, who grow into womanhood in the tumultuous political worlds of Montana and Chile during the 1960s and 1970s. Frankie goes to Santiago to study, only to find the university closed due to political strife. From that point on, the reader is on the roller coaster ride of the Allende years in Chile: hopeful, violent, tragic. A beautifully written, compelling story.”
-Mary Murphy, Distinguished Professor Emerita, Department of History & Philosophy, Montana State University.
“Janet Finn’s richly rewarding debut novel, Pie in the Sky tells the story of two women living parallel lives in the shadow of the Anaconda Company—in Butte, Montana and in La Victoria, Chile. As they grow up watching their mining families experience strikes, hunger, and alcoholism, they are determined to tell the stories of their bone-deep, tight-knit communities. As journalists and protestors, their lives dramatically intertwine during a dangerous time of political upheaval in early 1970s Chile. Written in vivid prose and precise historical detail, the novel explores how mining scars run deep as veins of copper through generations of families in America and Chile.”
-Caroline Patterson, author of The Stone Sister, winner of the 2022 High Plains Book Award for Women’s Fiction