Inside voices A prison choir, my mother, and me

Amy Kolen

Book - 2024

For fifteen months Amy Kolen traveled between two very different worlds: a medium-security men's prison, where she participated as an outside singer in the prison choir, and the confines of her mother's room in a health center, where her mother required round-the-clock care following a massive stroke. The author realizes the limits of her turbulent relationship with her mother, Lillian, while navigating her new role as an initially reluctant advocate for a woman with a diminished voice. At the same time, she welcomes the community within the prison walls as a place of acceptance and freedom. Working with the inside singers provides the expanding perspective she needs to approach her mother in a new light, eventually finding self-a...ffirmation, clarity, and grace during the final fifteen months of Lillian's life. Told with unflinching honesty, Inside Voices speaks to our longing for human connection and is a testament to how embracing new experiences with a "beginner's mind" can deepen understanding and bring inner peace. more