A Memoir of Trauma, Prison, and Self-Empowerment
Starred review from May 1, 2022
Forbes's memoir reads like a mash-up of episodes of Orange Is the New Black, a Toni Morrison novel, a self-improvement book, and a polemic--in the best possible way. None of this should come as a surprise, since Forbes found literature, including Morrison and Shakespeare while incarcerated for stabbing her daughter's father. The book unfolds in ways that clearly identify the ways in which childhood sexual trauma and its enduring effects shaped Forbes' trajectory, yet she never positions herself as a victim at the individual level. Instead, she uses her experiences to illustrate the societal issues that lead to recidivism and create barriers for individuals released from prison. As she notes, of the roughly 650,000 people released from prison each year, almost 2/3 are re-incarcerated. She examines structurally what causes this and provides clear, actionable steps that could reform the policies that make it nearly impossible for people to reenter the workforce and find meaningful, safe ways to live in our society after being released from prison. VERDICT Forbes has a story that needs to be read, and one that she has clearly synthesized and analyzed to ensure its significance encompasses both her personal successes and a much larger societal reform.--Emily Bowles
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
May 1, 2022
Growing up, Lisa Forbes felt like an outsider in her own family. Her mother and siblings singled her out for verbal abuse and punishment, her father was an alcoholic, and her older brother molested her for years with no repercussions. Raised in the Jehovah's Witness faith, she was continually told that she would not be one of the saved. Her escape was a man named James. Soon after they had a child together, he turned out to be as cruel as her family. When Forbes discovered that James married a woman she thought was his cousin, she stabbed him; he died the next day. After a sham of a trial, Forbes was sentenced to 25 years. She had always excelled as a student, even skipped two grades--so she read everything she could and took every class possible. But even as a model prisoner, she found it near impossible to succeed on the outside. Working piecemeal through her lifetime of trauma, she dedicated herself to helping fellow ""restored citizens."" Forbes' clear, honest, and inspiring memoir proves she is a champion for herself and the struggle against mass incarceration and recidivism.
COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.