Review: The Right to Speak. Wally Lamb and the Women of York Correctional Institution: Couldn't Keep It To Myself: Testimonies from Our Imprisoned Sisters.

Abstract

In lieu of an abstract, here is the first paragraph of the review:

The stories collected in Couldn't Keep It To Myself are the result of a writing workshop for women prisoners held by Wally Lamb at York Correctional Institution. Although they all are biographical, the stories the women tell are not what one might expect them to be: pessimistic, gloomy, or filled with hatred against prison and society. Taking us into the past and present lives of the authors, these pieces are full of hope - although the majority of incidents they relate are distressing -, and the subjects that emerge from them before our eyes are primarily individual persons, not convicted criminals.