The Prison Angel: Mother Antonia's Journey from Beverly Hills to a Life of Service in a Mexican Jail [Paperback]

Mary Jordan (Author), Kevin Sullivan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 2006

Like Dead Man Walking and The Cloister Walk, this stirring book is a story of spiritual transformation, one that is all the more remarkable because that transformation took place late in life. For nearly thirty years, Mother Antonia has lived in Tijuana’s La Mesa prison, where she ministers to some of the most maltreated inmates on earth. But before she took up her calling at age fifty, the Catholic nun was a Beverly Hills socialite who had been married and divorced twice and raised seven children. In chronicling her journey, The Prison Angel demonstrates the power of radical kindness to change the human heart.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After a wealthy childhood in Beverly Hills, two failed marriages and much spiritual searching, Mary Clarke put on a homemade habit and headed down to the most notorious prison in Tijuana, Mexico, where she has lived and worked since 1977. Alternately described as "a hustler," "a refreshing Coca-Cola in the desert" and "an oasis of purity," this intriguing Californian believes in the goodness of all people. Vicious murderers, deplorable dealers, society's drifters—Clarke, now known as Mother Antonia, ministers to all of them, brings them donated blankets, even convinces dentists to fix their rotting teeth and plastic surgeons to remove their gang tattoos. And all get hugs. Jordan and Sullivan, who report from Mexico for the Washington Post, paint a portrait of this remarkable woman with a light touch, rarely digressing into lyricism or political backstories. In fact, there are times when readers may feel that complex lives are oversimplified, and that the moral quandaries of Mother Antonia's universe are paved over. But the authors tell her stories simply, and with dignity, allowing Mother Antonia's passionate determination to come through without cliché and beautifully illustrating her rare approach to society's wayward and forgotten. Agent, Sterling Lord. (May 5)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

At 77, Mother Antonia lives among drug traffickers and other criminals in a jail cell in La Mesa prison in Tijuana, Mexico, dispensing spiritual and material care to prisoners and their families. Jordan and Sullivan, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters with the Washington Post, spent three years researching the long, astonishing journey of a woman who, at the age of 50, left the comforts of suburban L.A. to begin a charity mission in Mexico. Twice divorced and with seven adult children, the former Mary Clarke brought a full lifetime of perspective to her work, attracting the attention of Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II, who blessed her mission. Despite her own poor health, Mother Antonia visits lepers, buries the dead who are unidentified, offers spiritual counseling to brutal prison guards, and squelches a riot when prisoners are overcome by their horrific living conditions. This is an inspiring story of one woman's compassion and her own journey of spiritual growth. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (May 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 014303717X
• ISBN-13: 978-0143037170
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #287,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can't put this book down!, May 9, 2005

By 

Jennifer Bender (Orange, Ca. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Prison Angel: Mother Antonia's Journey from Beverly Hills to a Life of Service in a Mexican Jail (Hardcover)

Mother Antonia is the essence of love, and yet she makes you laugh, makes you feel cherished, and makes you feel like a better person. She is so spunky and exudes life, and despite her small and short frame, she has stories that are so intense that it scares you, yet amazes you at how someone can love the unlovable so sincerely. This book captures her spirit and her overflowing love so well, and it also shows the other side of her, which is so courageous that she even stands up to some of Mexico's most notorious druglords. I wish that everyone could meet her, and that is why I am so excited that this book exists, so that everyone can have a chance to get to know what she is like. I read this book in a day because I could not put it down. There are so many on-the-edge-of-your-seat stories that it captures you. It made me think, laugh, cry, made me want to make more of my life, made me want to give, and helped me to love more. Mother Antonia is a gift and a blessing to everyone that meets her or reads her story.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prison Angel, May 19, 2005

By 

Edward A. Gargan (Beijing, China) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Prison Angel: Mother Antonia's Journey from Beverly Hills to a Life of Service in a Mexican Jail (Hardcover)

Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan have written a rare and intimate book, one that traces the densely complex life of an american housewife from the glades of beverly hills to the cold and violent cells of a mexican prison; rare because journalists seldom plumb inner lives, and intimate because they lived with mother antonia in the prison where she works. this volume is rare as well because as much as it chronicles a life of consumate goodness, it does so within the harsh and often deadly atmosphere of mexican criminal life, the drug wars, vendettas, vengeance and betrayals. i read this book in one sitting; it cannot be put down.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary book about forgiveness, altruism and compassion, January 30, 2006

By 

Vianey Garcia (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Prison Angel: Mother Antonia's Journey from Beverly Hills to a Life of Service in a Mexican Jail (Hardcover)

First of all, I knew who Madre Antonia was because I live in Tijuana and almost everybody here knows her or has heard of her. So when I heard there was a book about her I got really excited and tried to get a hold of a copy.

This book is very inspirational. Mother Antonia is my friend's godmother and when M. Jordan talked to her about writing a book about her life, Mother Antonia went to talk to my friend's dad (who had been the prison director before)and asked him what he thought about the idea of having a book about her work, she thought it wasn't right to tell everybody "Oh look all the things I've done", she just didn't want to feel like she was bragging about her actions, but my friend's dad told her that she didn't need to see it that way, she could see it as an inspiration for others to follow her steps. And I think it is exactly what this book is.

Mother Antonia gave up alot of things and decided to move into "La Peny" how people from Tijuana refer to La Mesa Prison. And like she said it's not self-sacrifice because what she does she does it with love and she enjoys it. This American nun is very sweet, she is always smiling, when you talk to her she always smiles. She bring help and warmth to prisioners, poor people and just anyone who looks for her and finds her.

This book definetely makes us think about how selfish we can be, sometimes we just live in our world thinking we have it all and don't even think about help the ones the have nothing. I'm going to be honest and say that this book made me feel really selfish. In fact, I already chose some stuff I'm going to take to Madre Antonia, you can just give her things and she will find people that need it. I felt bad because I told her I was going to bring her some things about a year ago and I didn't (being 10 minutes away from her ~_~) so now I'm definetely going to do it.

There were a lot of sentences that caught my attention, but right now I'm going to share only one:
"Look up into the sky and see a billion planets, and you'll see what power is. It doesn't come from a wallet or a weapon" Madre Antonia p.179

I recommended this book so so so much. It's tough to put down. The authors did an excellent job. You'll see that it will make you think about ways to help others. It's an incredible story. I promise you'll find yourself smiling at the fact that people like Madre Antonia still exists on this world. ^_^

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