The Prison Book Club

(Paperback)

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Description

Ten years ago Ann Walmsley was mugged outside her house in Hampstead. She suffered PTSD and for a long time afterwards was afraid to walk down the street alone. A few years later, her friend Carol asked her to participate in a bold new venture in a men's medium security prison. Ann was initially apprehensive: did she really want to be surrounded by violent criminals Luckily, her curiosity won over, and she signed up for eighteen months, attending weekly meetings in a remote building a few hours outside of Toronto. There was no wine and cheese, plush furnishings or superficial chat about jobs or recent vacations. But a book club on the inside proved to be a place to share ideas, learn about each other and regain humanity. From The Grapes of Wrath to The Cellist of Sarajevo, and Outliers to Infidel, the book discussions became a springboard for frank conversations about loss, anger, redemption, heroism and loneliness. We follow six book-club members who kept journals at Walmsley's request and participated in candid one-on-one conversations. Graham the biker, Frank the gunman, Ben and Dread the drug dealers, and the robber duo Gaston and Peter reveal their life stories and world views through their thoughts on a wide range of books and characters.

Reviews

A testament to what reading together can do... Walmsley shows how reading and rehabilitation can go hand-in-hand.

* Times Literary Supplement *

Reveals the redemptive power of reading, with unexpected and morally acute insights from some of Canada's most fierce criminals.

* The Lady *

A terrific read that offers a glimpse into a world that is at once constricted yet capable of great emotional generosity.

-- Steven Galloway, author of The Cellist of Sarajevo

A soulful exploration of mens hearts and mindsFunny and full of insightA wonderful read.

-- Ann Dowsett Johnston, author of Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol

Author Bio

Ann Walmsley is a magazine journalist whose work has appeared in The Globe and Mail and Maclean's. She is the recipient of four National Magazine Awards, a Canadian Business Journalism Award and two International Regional Magazine Awards. She founded her first book club at age nine.