Inside this Place, Not Of It

[Jean]

Let's kick of the 2020 book club with one of the best books I've read so far this year in general. It's contains a multitude of different voices from women's prisons - it's harrowing and it's vital. There is so much discussion to be had around this topic and I'm still learning but I hope some of you can read this book because it's so important (I also want to chat about it more).

[Hannah]

I liked it. Unfortunately a lot of the women’s stories about their experiences, in prison and prior to their time in prison, are similar to stories I heard about going to psychology classes in university.

[I.D.]

At first I wasn't quite on board with the style of writing in a lot of the essays, because it's not necessarily what I would call good writing, but that's a really unfair assessment considering these women's backgrounds. Also, when you stop to think about it, the utter casualness with which the women describe the most horrific incidents, it like a punch in the gut and you just can't help being furious that these things are happening anywhere in the world, let alone the US.