Synopses & Reviews
95 percent of the millions of American men and women who go to prison eventually get out. What happens to them?
There's Arnoldo, who came of age inside a maximum security penitentiary, now free after nineteen years. Trevor and Catherine, who spent half of their young lives behind bars for terrible crimes committed when they were kids. Dave, inside the walls for 34 years, now about to reenter an unrecognizable world. Vicki, a five-time loser who had cycled in and out of prison for more than a third of her life. They are simultaneously joyful and overwhelmed at the prospect of freedom. Anxious, confused, sometimes terrified, and often ill-prepared to face the challenges of the free world, all are intent on reclaiming and remaking their lives.
What is the road they must travel from caged to free? How do they navigate their way home?
A gripping and empathetic work of immersion reportage, FREE reveals what awaits them and the hundreds of thousands of others who are released from prison every year: the first rush of freedom followed quickly by institutionalized obstacles and logistical roadblocks, grinding bureaucracies, lack of resources, societal stigmas and damning self-perceptions, the sometimes overwhelming psychological challenges. Veteran reporter Lauren Kessler, both clear-eyed and compassionate, follows six people whose diverse stories paint an intimate portrait of struggle, persistence, and resilience.
The truth — the many truths — about life after lockup is more interesting, more nuanced, and both more troubling and more deeply triumphant than we know.
Review
“[An] empathetic and visceral account....This powerful argument in favor of a better support system for those who have served their time rings true.” Publishers Weekly
Review
“It is nothing short of phenomenal to read these stories of people who move from prison to freedom. Lauren Kessler's immersion journalism gives us a place from which to witness the world we've made, and how people who make mistakes must learn to navigate through it against impossible odds.” Lidia Yuknavitch, bestselling author of The Book of Joan and The Chronology of Water
Review
“With tenderness and empathy, Lauren Kessler speaks to how and where we fail the thousands of individuals coming out of prison every year. Kessler asks us to get to know these six men and women and to come to understand and celebrate their remarkable journeys. I love the writing in this important and timely book. These moving stories will stay with you.” Alex Kotlowitz, bestselling author of There Are No Children Here
Review
“If mass incarceration is one of the great moral crises of our time, then how we treat those who are recently freed is just as much of a travesty. The stories Lauren Kessler shares in Free show how prison changes people and fails to set them up for success on the outside. Lauren integrates data with compelling vignettes to illustrate a better way forward for those who will be released from prison. “ Eric Garcia, author of We're Not Broken: Changing the Autism Conversation
About the Author
Lauren Kessler is the author of several works of narrative nonfiction, including the Washington Post bestseller Clever Girl and the Los Angeles Times bestseller The Happy Bottom Riding Club. Her journalism has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Los Angeles Times Magazine, O magazine, and The Nation. She directs the graduate program in literary nonfiction at the University of Oregon.