This is an awesome read. It takes us into the story of this woman who happened to go to a prison one day to read her poetry to the men and happens to meet one of prisoners there and they start to fall in love. This is one of those real life love stories that isn't easy in the slightest. visits, raising her children by herself while her husband is incarcerated and looking at a life sentence for the both of them, this book was as real as it gets. Many times she questions why she is with this man, why she can't find a good man on the outside, but she is in love with him, she has his kids and she stands by him. I understand her loneliness, her despair, her longing, all the emotions are raw in this book. The reader finds themselves thinking, when will they free this man so they can be a family? ( )

I don't even know where to begin describing this book. It's absolutely stunning. One of my all-time favorite books, and one of very few that I would give a perfect ‘10' to.

All I knew going in was the basic blurb: asha bandele met, fell in love with, and eventually married a man who is doing 20 to life for murder. This is the story of that relationship. It sounded interesting, though honestly I wasn't sure I'd even bother finishing the book. I had high hopes, but they weren't based on much and I knew I could easily be disappointed. But the writing is so powerful and direct, you cannot help but sink into bandele's story. It's so much more than the story of a woman who fell in love against all odds. bandele writes with such insight and honesty, and you find yourself moving through love, power, struggle, heartbreak, joy, hope, misery, sex, birth, death, discovery, and hundreds of other states. The story is relentless, and yet flows with absolute grace.

I'm not doing it justice, but what a stunning book. Seriously, I'm almost speechless with its beauty. Of course, I would recommend it to just about anyone. With one slight caveat, and it's not a fault with the book in my opinion, but it's something I'd add to the recommendation. That is that several people have mentioned when they started this book that they didn't think they'd finish it because her writing is just too . . . much. Too poetic or too flowery or something. I noticed that as well. And I can't say that it lost that as the book went on, but after a while you see that it really works. She talks about some really intense things in the book, and her style of writing really helps carry it without getting too mired down. So I guess I'd just say this: If all that's bothering you is her writing style, keep reading. I think you'll find that you're enjoying the book by the time you're halfway through at least. ( )

It's hard to write a review of this book, at least for me. The author has a beautifully descriptive way of writing; she's a poet, and you can tell by how she writes this memoir. Although appearing to be a private individual, asha bares her soul to the readers of the memoir, delving into intensely painful events, such as the abuse she suffered during her childhood and the doubts she had about her relationship with Rashid.

Sometimes, I think that asha's anger towards the prison guards is misplaced. Yes, her relationship with Rashid is restricted because of the prison's rules, and I am sure that there are guards who delight in having power over people. But there are rules in prison for a reason; the prisoners aren't there because they sang too loud in church on Sunday. There's a reason why the bed linen had to be a certain color (they could be used to make uniforms in an attempt to escape) or that her shampoo had to be alcohol-free (I'm sure people have tried to distill it in order to make "moonshine").

The memoir isn't exactly chronological; each chapter tends to dwell on a particular topic, so the author sometimes skips around in time. That may be confusing to some, but I followed her well enough.

I found it to be a very interesting, passionate book about how she fell in love with someone whom she never meant to love, and how each of them helped the other in difficult times. Coupled with asha's way with words, and this was a book that was hard to put down; I think that I finished it in two sittings. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to read an intriguing memoir. ( )

David and I went to Williamstown to visit Laurel. On Saturday night David stayed at the hotel and Laurel and I went to a reading at Inkberry, a nonprofit literary association started by Laurel's friends. The friends were very excited that we were there, feeling they won out over Tanglewood which we were attending.

The author who read that evening was asha bandele, a black woman who drove in from New York City for the event. She had on a tight, low-cut sundress and her hair was wrapped in an African type cloth. She looked very out of place in the Berkshires. She arrived with her very cut, precocious two year old daughter Neesha and a man she introduced as her partner, who was not the prisoner she wrote about in this book. Neesha stole the show with her cute and funny comments and had to be brought out for a walk by the partner.

It was an interesting book to say the least. Not the kind I would pick off the shelf, but I was glad that I read it. Asha has a great writing talent, but she is a woman I had a hard time relating to. She writes so passionately about love, but shortly after she conceives a child with Rashid, she leaves him. I am left to wonder, "What is love if not enduring?"

Asha met Rashid when he was in prison and she went to the prison to read when a former professor hers organized a group. She was 25 and on the verge of divorce from her first husband. Rashid was doing time for murder, 29, and about to divorce his first wife.

She says, "When people ask me how I could fall in love with a killer, I explain I didn't. I fell in love with a man who wanted to become his own more perfect creation." ( )