Wall Tappings

Speaking from settings as diverse as a Roman prison cell in 203 A.D., a Siberian labor camp in the 1930s, and a present-day U.S. state penitentiary, these thirty-seven writers describe prison life and affirm the power of expression in memoirs, diaries, letters, essays, fiction, and poetry. Some write to vindicate themselves, some to strengthen their beliefs, and some to express solidarity with other women. Many write to survive, and to comfort themselves or their children. All of them, as editor Judith Scheffler notes, unite "in condemning an institution that labels them worthless and attempts to destroy their humanity in the name of justice." In this riveting collection, now back in print in an updated and expanded edition, women prisoners break through the walls of silence that have long surrounded their experience. Winner of the Susan Koppelman Award for Outstanding Anthology Book jacket.