![]() ![]() While acknowledging her privileged background, Kerman never fully dispels the reader’s discomfort when she more or less conflates her own case with those of the majority of the women around her. She paints nearly everyone pretty rosily and without much nuance. But, a public relations executive by trade, Kerman is often frustratingly careful, polite. ![]() Occasionally, she opens up, and these moments are powerful. She is less successful at talking about herself. Kerman excels at chronicling the other women and their struggles, from teenagers doing time for drug-related crimes to a 69-year-old nun in jail for trespassing as part of a peaceful protest at a missile silo. If the author seems hard to relate to in her wild-child days, empathy abounds as she skillfully describes her sense of terror upon losing all freedom. ![]() In contrast, her depiction of arriving at the prison in 2004-saying goodbye to Larry, surrendering all her possessions-is poignant and thoroughly-rendered. When Kerman reflects on this time, she seems unwilling or unable to explore her motivations, and more often resorts to describing her lifestyle in list form. a perceptive, if imperfect inside look at our criminal justice system and the women who cycle through it. ![]()
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