Title: The Many Lives of Mama Love
Author: Lara Love Hardin
Genre: Memoir
Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.
I think this is the first time I’ve gotten a random book from NetGalley that ended up an Oprah Book Club selection. When I started reading this book, I had no idea what it was about. I assumed the author was writing about her mother.
I soon realized that the author was telling her own story about her addiction to various drugs, her time in jail (not prison), and her efforts to get her life back on track, mostly motivated to be reunited with her children.
A well-off woman who struggles with addiction isn’t a new story. But the parts of this book that resonated with me were the stories of how to manage probation, multiple court appearances each week, drug tests, holding a full-time job, having no car or home, and jumping through more hoops than one can imagine. Probation is no joke and clearly needs to be reformed because most people end up back in jail because they don’t have outside resources to help with all the jumping of hoops.
I really enjoyed this book and felt Lara’s story was important, but she had more help than other people do. I’m curious to read a story of someone who doesn’t have a wealthy mother-in-law to fund bail and an apartment. How do those people manage to make it on their own?
Pleasant Nights 