Couldn't Keep It to Myself: Testimonies from Our Imprisoned Sisters

Couldn't Keep It to Myself
Author(s)	Wally Lamb Nancy Whiteley Carolyn Ann Adams Tabatha Rowley Nancy Birkla Brenda Medina Robin Cullen Bonnie Foreshaw Barbara Parsons Lane Michelle Jessamy Diane Bartholomew Dale Griffith
Genre(s)	Autobiography
Publisher	ReganBooks
Publication date	2003
Pages	350
ISBN	ISBN 006053429X
OCLC Number	50920613

Couldn't Keep It to Myself: Testimonies from Our Imprisoned Sisters is a collection of autobiographies by the inmates of the York Correctional Institution.

Summary

For several years, Wally Lamb taught writing skills to inmates at the York Correctional Institution, a women's prison in Niantic, Connecticut. The book contains personal stories written by the inmates dealing with their lives. Most were sexually, physically, or mentally abused, and came from impoverished backgrounds.

Reception

• Allyssa Lee, of Entertainment Weekly, said that the book has 12 riveting, touching autobiographical accounts that look past the bars to lay bare lives that would normally have gone unheard and that the book deserves an audience.^[1]
• It was reviewed by Women in Action.^[2]
• Kathryn C. DeVito, of Pop Matters, said that the book has vivid and intimate portrayals remind us that these women are human beings first, inmates second and she wonders why Wally Lamb's name is in bold print on the cover since he did not write the book.^[3]
• It was reviewed by Inner Lives: Voices of African-American Women in Prison.^[4]
• An inmate, Barbara Parsons Lane, won a Pen Literary Award for her contribution to the book.^[5]

References

1. ^ Entertainment Weekly
2. ^ Women in Action
3. ^ Pop Matters
4. ^ Inner Lives: Voices of African-American Women in Prison
5. ^ The New York Times