Hard Time & Nursery Rhymes: A Mother's Tales of Law and Disorder

by Claudia Trupp

What kind of woman leaves three young daughters at home every morning to spend her days representing convicted murderers and rapists? That is the question criminal defense attorney Claudia Trupp confronts in this sharp and riveting memoir as she seeks answers—for herself and, mostly, for her daughters.

Every working mother faces the challenges of balancing work and home, but the nature of Trupp's work makes her juggling act all the more precarious—and at times hilarious and bizarre. Trupp's domestic anecdotes of life with her kids run parallel to narratives of her most memorable, and often unsettling, criminal cases, each providing a platform to explore broader issues such as faith, perspective, and charm. The navigation of radically different realms—the criminal courts and maximum security prisons where clients serve hard time, and the home front where children demand marshmallows for breakfast—provides thought-provoking and entertaining reading.

While the working mother has been a popular subject of fiction and self-help guides, this may be the only book offering a woman's deeply personal and unapologetic account of how embracing a challenging job while simultaneously guiding a family reaps unexpected benefits on both fronts. In a memoir that will resonate powerfully with all women, Trupp candidly conveys to the reader and to her daughters the struggles and rewards of the conflicting roles in her life, the joy she has found in being a mother, and the value of meaningful work.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published April 9, 2009

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Claudia Trupp is a lawyer who works for the Office of the Appellate Advocate. Like a public defender, she represents clients who cannot afford to hire a lawyer, but while a public defender is involved in the initial trial to prove a defendant’s guilt or innocence, Trupp handles cases on appeal, after a person has been convicted and is serving time, and seeks to overturn those convictions. In this book, she tells stories of her clients and their cases, interposed with stories of raising her three young daughters. I chose to read it because I love mommy-tales, the stories of the joys and trials of raising our children. But it was the stories of her work that I enjoyed the most. They were real page-turners, real-life stories of the justice system gone awry, and, at least sometimes, set right again. It is as well-written as a detective story, and as real as the friend next door, sharing stories over a glass of wine.

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting look into the world of an appeals attorney. It wasn't a process I had ever thought much about, so this was a neat insight.

Her stories about the cases she's handled and the criminals (and wrongly accused) and lawyers she's encountered are much more interesting than her home life. And they're much more interesting than the guilt she feels over devoting so much time and focus to her job instead of to her three young girls. I'm sympathetic, sort of, but I was much happier when reading about the cases she worked.

Trupp does a wonderful job of simplifying the truly labyrinthine law and procedures she works with every day, and it was very easy to follow her explanations. A little cheesy, overall, but filled with good bits for legal junkies.

[Jana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the look into appellate law and I liked how she consistently balanced motherhood and work. I did not like her continual blatant and subtle complements to herself, especially when it sometimes came at the cost of others. She refers to her intelligence, beauty, work ethic and activism too much for my taste. I would have preferred a more balanced picture of the author. Also, all of the cases she discusses were wins. I'm not sure if she can't talk about losses or if this is just more egotism.

[Adele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book!! Such an inspiring story and a great look at the reality of the criminal justice system in the US.