Dear Lit Loves,
After having devoured Orange Is the New Black by Piper Kerman when it originally was released, I had a similar curiosity about Corrections in Ink: A Memoir by Keri Blakinger. This memoir takes an inside look at addiction, self-destruction, prison, and redemption. This book alternates chapters from the author's early life as a competitive figure skater who exits the sport and spirals down to the depths of addiction followed by chapters chronicling her arrest and time spent in prison. There is no self-pity on the part of the author. She owns her mistakes. At certain points in the book, she very candidly admits to her regrets and also to how she survives life in prison along with observations of the vivid realization that prison is not rehabilitation but rather making a human being feel they have no value and are powerless.
The book's author, Keri Blakinger, loses her spirit when she leaves the sport of figure skating. Figure skating was so much a part of her identity and without it, there is a loss of such magnitude that she looks for escape and finds it in life as an addict. It is heartbreaking at times to read how an individual can self-destruct so completely and quickly yet also remain well-functioning enough to keep up her classes in college. The reader witnesses Keri become more and more reckless while also surrounding herself with other addicts who contribute to her destructive spiral. She hits rock bottom when she finds herself in a county jail awaiting her prison assignment.
In prison, Keri is exposed to fellow addicts and felons who have done some terrible things, but for the most part, Keri realizes the women who are in prison with her did not start out as terrible people. Many of her fellow prisoners suffer from mental illness, have been victims of some form of physical or sexual violence, and come from poor backgrounds often not having obtained even a high school diploma. Keri begins to recognize that she could easily have been arrested long before she was. She comes from a privileged background while many of her fellow inmates do not have the advantages she has enjoyed. Throughout being in the grip of addiction, Keri's parents repeatedly pay for her to have place to live and also pay for her college education. Her parents make sure the one good thing she accomplished during addiction is taken care of and returned to her upon her release from prison.
Through the multiple prison transfers along with the relationships Keri has with the women she meets in prison, Keri begins to also observe how the U.S. prison system is designed to leave people living in fear, lose any sense of self-worth, and ensure that prisoners know how powerless they are. Keri witnesses some haunting truths of life in prison as a woman: the sparse and decaying living quarters, the lack of access to medical care, the vulnerabilities female prisoners have in relation to prison guards, the fear that comes with possibly receiving a disciplinary citation that incurs isolation, and the lack of any comprehensive programs to assist women in navigating life once they are released from prison.
Upon her release Keri survives her time on probation, slowly learns to live in the outside world once again, avoids falling prey to addiction again, and discovers a talent that eventually gives her life meaning and enables her to make a difference for those who are incarcerated. This is a profoundly moving book. I highly recommend it to those in recovery from addiction and for those that are incarcerated. For those of us that know neither of these realities, it is an opportunity to observe the precarious life of someone in the throes of addiction. Readers also bear witness to a former addict and human being trying to serve her time in prison with all its pitfalls while slowly learning how to bravely reclaim her life and make a difference in the lives of others.
A truly great read.
Best,
Grace (Amy)
