“I thought what I craved was approval and praise, but it’s simpler than that. I craved acceptance. For all the different versions of me I have been, and all the many lives I have lived.”–Lara Love Hardin
Lara Love Hardin seemed to have everything together. Soccer mom, mother of four boys, wife, and business owner were some of the labels that described her. Another label, heroine addict, was one that no one but her husband knew about. That all changed when she began stealing credit cards from her neighbors and other parents at the school to fund her addiction. She and her husband were arrested and her world turned upside down. She became inmate S32179 and began learning about an entirely new social structure–the class and power system within the jail.
Lara Love Hardin is unflinchingly honest in this memoir of her experiences of hitting rock bottom as an addict, being convicted of 32 felonies, being away from her children while she was in jail, the dynamics and dangers within the prison system, and the challenges of trying to assimilate back into her community after her release. She brings awareness to the nearly impossible task of meeting the conditions of parole–particularly finding a job and housing when no one wants to hire or house a felon and how convicted felons don’t have access to the same government services as non-felons. She uses humor deftly and employs an engaging narrative style. This is a book of second chances and how no one wants to be defined forever by the worst thing they have ever done.
Content Advisory: Language–there are several (15-20) uses of the f-word, drug use, references to sex