Inside This Place, Not of It: Narratives from Women's Prisons (Voice of Witness) [Paperback]

Ayelet Waldman (Editor), Robin Levi (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 8, 2011 | Series: Voice of Witness

People in U.S. prisons are routinely subjected to physical, sexual, and mental abuse. While this has been documented in male prisons, women in prison often suffer in relative anonymity. Women Inside addresses this critical social justice issue, empowering incarcerated and formerly incarcerated women to share the stories that have previously been silenced. Among the narrators:

Irma Rodriguez, in prison on drug charges. While in prison in 1990, Irma was diagnosed HIV positive, but after a decade and a half of aggressive and toxic treatment, Irma learned that she never had HIV.

Sheri Dwight, a domestic violence survivor who was sent to prison for attempting to kill her batterer. While in prison, she underwent surgery for abdominal pain and learned more than four years later that she had been sterilized without her consent.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Winner of The National Council on Crime and Delinquency's PASS Award for Literature

"Incredibly compelling."
—Meg Waite Clayton, Huffington Post

"A chilling glimpse of the human rights abuses suffered by women in U.S. prisons... a captivating read."
—Ashley Lucas, Ms. Magazine Blog

"These stories are a gift. The women in this book compel us to imagine how their lives would be different—how we would be different—if we responded to their experience with genuine care, compassion, and concern.”
—from the foreword by Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow

"Inside This Place, Not Of It is precisely the kind of book we need now. In reading these narratives—so skillfully assembled, and with the accompanying statistics and data which let readers see how America and its states are complicit in taking away lives and dignity from so many women—what stands out is the poignant sense of abandonment and sadness that changed their lives from childhood, and the astonishing strength and perseverance that let them survive in prison. I will never forget these women, or this book."
—Susan Straight, author of Take One Candle Light A Room

“I am passionately, ardently grateful for the existence of this book. How else would I have ever heard the voices of these women? Where would I gain insight or understanding of the lives they describe: harrowing, riveting, rife with misogyny, and utterly unacceptable in a country that values human rights.”
—Peggy Orenstein, author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture

“We may hear about prisons, but not much from prisoners, and certainly not from women prisoners, which makes Inside This Place, Not of It so unusual.”
–Leonard Lopate

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: McSweeney's Books; 1st edition (November 8, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1936365502
• ISBN-13: 978-1936365500
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #303,841 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Giving Face to the Facts December 13, 2011

By C. Crowe

Format:Paperback

Women are the fastest growing segment of the prison population, but their voices are rarely heard. This book is an effort to make them heard. Readers can no longer skim over a statistic (over 90 percent of women in prison have suffered sexual and/or domestic abuse) but have to listen to how it shapes each individual story. The stories all unfold differently - from the places these women come from, to the crimes they're accused of and the neglect and abuse they suffer once in prison - but they all have one thing in common: the system has failed these women. What we can do now is listen.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Women of Inside This Place Empowering Activism & Change December 13, 2011

By Mac S.

Format:Paperback

I read Inside This Place, Not of It over the course of a few days. These are stories of abuse, it's true, but these womens' strength shine through, inspiring me to work for change in this country, as opposed to focusing on what's wrong with it. One of the main messages I got from Inside This Place was how insufficient the prison system is in this country. There are so many barriers to dealing with mental health and abuse issues, and the system in place appears to be ignoring the problem until it's impossible, and then reacting with incarceration, like in Francesca's story of abuse and violence. The narratives tell stories of violence against and abuse of inmates, but it raises questions of how to deal with the prison class as a whole, and more than anything else, whether we are dooming a class of women to life in prison through insufficient education and domestic abuse prevention. I'm so glad to have read this book, and I can't recommend it highly enough to those interested in incarceration issues in the U.S., women's issues, and mental health issues.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A stunning collection of narratives December 13, 2011

By Rebecca Buck

Format:Paperback

Even in the most well-meaning essays, the voice of the storyteller is often sidelined by the voice of the reporter. Voice of Witness allows those who do not often get the choice to tell their own story a chance to speak, free of outside interpretation.

Immensely harrowing and compelling, Inside this Place, Not of It gives incarcerated women an opportunity to be free.