I'll Fly Away
Further Testimonies from the Women of York Prison
In 2003 Wally Lamb—the author of two of the most beloved novels of our time, She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True—published Couldn't Keep It to Myself, a collection of essays by the students in his writing workshop at the maximum-security York Correctional Institution, Connecticut's only prison for women. Writing, Lamb discovered, was a way for these women to confront painful memories, face their fears and their failures, and begin to imagine better lives. The New York Times described the book as "Gut-tearing tales . . . the unvarnished truth." The Los Angeles Times said of it, "Lying next to and rising out of despair, hope permeates this book."
Now Lamb returns with I'll Fly Away, a new volume of intimate, searching pieces from the York workshop. Here, twenty women—eighteen inmates and two of Lamb's cofacilitators—share the experiences that shaped them from childhood and that haunt and inspire them to this day. These portraits, vignettes, and stories depict with soul-baring honesty how and why women land in prison—and what happens once they get there. The stories are as varied as the individuals who wrote them, but each testifies to the same core truth: the universal value of knowing oneself and changing one's life through the power of the written word.
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Critical Praise for
I'll Fly Away
"Powerful…In I’LL FLY AWAY, the women have penned well-drawn evocative pieces about their experiences…Healing is happening through writing."
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Associated Press
"Inspiring and raw…They write from the heart…each vignette is more compelling than the one before it."
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Library Journal
"Accomplished…Each story, no matter how grim or gritty, shows polish."
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Kirkus Reviews
"Lamb . . . continues to offer readers an intimate look at women struggling to maintain their humanity."
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Booklist
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The Hour I First Believed
Wally Lamb's two previous novels, She's Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True , struck a chord with readers. They responded to the intensely introspective nature of the books, and to their lively narrative styles and biting humor. One critic called Wally Lamb a "modern-day Dostoyevsky," whose...
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The Hour I First Believed
Wally Lamb explores the consequences of war and violence on human lives blown irrevocably off course. When 47−year−old teacher Caelum Quirk and his younger wife Maureen‚ a nurse‚ move to Littleton‚ Colorado‚ they both get jobs at Columbine High School. In April...
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