Booktalking The Prison Book Club by Ann Walmsley

prison

Ann Walmsley was the victim of a vicious mugging in her London neighborhood. It was a strangulation robbery, and she is lucky that she escaped with her voice intact. Some of the other victims were not so fortunate. She suffered from the symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder for months following the event. Understandably, she showed some trepidation and hesitation when her friend, Carol, attempted to get her on board for volunteering at a book club in a medium-security correctional institution, the Collins Bay Institution

However, she decided to jump in head first to this new, exciting endeavor. Little did she know that she and Carol would conduct the book club in a secluded area without any guards present. The meetings were conducted in the chapel; some inmates asked to change the location due to the stigma attached to religious activities in prison. The ladies provided packaged cookies to entice inmates to participate.

Like with most book clubs, it was sometimes a challenge to get all of the members to read the book prior to the discussion. Also, attendance was sometimes an issue, especially with the ever-present threat of a lockdown. One meeting was poorly attended due to a work strike that was going on in the prison. However, when the group met, the men had interesting things to say about the books, especially in how they saw the characters in relation to their own life circumstances. One author that visited the group found the observations of these men to be quite profound and intriguing.

The Prison Book Club by Ann Walmsley, 2015