The Prisoner's Wife: A Memoir - Softcover

Bandele, Asha

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0671021486 ISBN 13: 9780671021481

Publisher: Scribner, 2000

Synopsis

How did a beautiful, talented college student fall in love with a man serving twenty-to-life for murder? Why did she marry him? At a time when one in four black men is caught in the web of the criminal justice system, Asha Bandele shatters the myths of prisoner's wives and tells a story of the beauty of love even in the ugliest of circumstances. Whether she is describing her restricted but romantic courtship with Rashid, when letters were like dates, or riding the bus upstate with the other wives and girlfriends, Bandele creates haunting images and reflections so powerful and unique that they beg to be reread and savoured. At the same time that she recalls the ups and downs that accompany a relationship that is constantly scutinized by guards and surveillance cameras, she confronts the secrets and sadness in her past and comes to terms with hersilf as an African-American woman and a prisoner's wife. A gifted poet, Asha Bandele has written an extraordinarily candid book that resonates with poetic language and abundant insight.

About this title

Review:

Angela Y. Davis A powerful and provocative book -- everyone should read it.

Nikki Giovanni It is not easy to trust your heart, but here is a love story. The Prisoner's Wife takes us through not the dungeon of emotions, but the sunshine of hope. If we can continue to find a reason to care, we can all be saved. This book needs to be read by anyone who has...paid a price for love.

Booklist (starred review) asha bandele's writing soars with emotion. And the reader's emotions soar as well, not because of a shared experience but because her highly polished and skillful writing makes one feel her pain and joy. This is a romantic but realistic story, told with a directness and honesty that makes us know that however impossible the problems asha and Rashid face, we can question neither her motives nor sanity.

From the Publisher:

From Booklist, starred review
asha bandele's "writing soars with emotion. And the reader's emotions soar as well, not because of a shared experience but because her highly polished and skillful writing makes one feel her pain and joy. This is a romantic but realistic story, told with a directness and honesty that makes us know that however impossible the problems asha and Rashid face, we can question neither her motives nor sanity."

About this edition

• Publisher: Scribner
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0671021486
• ISBN 13: 9780671021481
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240