Denise Braxtonbrown-smith

Prison Love Denise Braxtonbrown-smith

When one thinks of prison, the element that is most commonly omitted is love. Like in the outside world, love has its ups and its downs, its ins and its outs and complexities that send one soaring to the highest of highs and plummeting to the lowest of lows. Prison Love is a personal and thoughtful account of the different types of love in a place that is known for backstabbing, cutthroat deals and deadly violence. It is a place that can degrade the goodness of humanity, harden the heart and kill one's joy. Serving a six-year prison term in Alderson, West Virginia, Dr. D. Braxtonbrown-Smith glimpsed another side of prison life. This unspoken aspect of incarceration is a way of survival for the growing number of women who find themselves snatched away from their families. In this new life experience, Dr. Braxtonbrown-Smith had to consciously decide how to handle her own love life. Like thousands of women behind bards, the choice of lesbianism and sex with officers were among the many choices. The choice she made not only strengthened her marriage, but also helped others realize their own strength. Prison Love is a true account of choices that women make in an effort to survive isolation while trying to hold on to what it means to be a woman.