Prisoners

by Dorothy Bryant

A bond grows between Sally Morgan, a fifty-year-old woman whose marriage is dissolving and whose children no longer need her, and the twenty-five-year-old prison inmate she corresponds with and encourages to write poetry

Paperback

Published January 1, 1980

About the author

Dorothy Bryant was born in San Francisco in 1930, second daughter of Joe and Giuditta Calvetti, both born in Balangero, a factory town near Turin, Italy, and brought to the United States as children. Bryant became the first in her family to graduate from college, and she earned her living teaching (high school and college) until 1976. She began writing in 1960 and has since published a dozen books of fiction and non-fiction. Her plays have been performed in the Bay Area and beyond.

Bryant is known for her mystical, feminist and fantastic novels and plays that traverse the space between the real world and her character's inner psyche or soul. Her book The Kin of Ata are Waiting for You was described by Alice Walker as "One of my favorite books in all the world".

Reviews

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book about 25 years ago. It was deeply meaningful to me then, and even more so now that I am involved in teaching people who are incarcerated, and have watched many try for parole. Even though some of the systems are dated, the struggles are perennial. This is such an important read for people interested in criminal justice reform and reentry work.