Join us and other libraries worldwide as together we take part in a huge community read of the inspiring true story Shakespeare Saved My Life: Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard by Laura Bates. The Big Library Read program started March 17 and will run through March 31. During this time, the eBook will be available for simultaneous use, which means no holds or waiting lists. We will have unlimited eBook copies of the book available through OverDrive. Check out a copy and join our Big Library eBook Read today!
Here’s a description of the book:
Shakespeare professor and prison volunteer Laura Bates thought she had seen it all. That is, until she decided to teach Shakespeare in a place the bard had never been before — supermax solitary confinement. In this unwelcoming place, surrounded by inmates known as the worst of the worst, is Larry Newton. A convicted murderer with several escape attempts under his belt and a brilliantly agile mind on his shoulders, Larry was trying to break out of prison at the same time Laura was fighting to get her program started behind bars.
Thus begins the most unlikely of friendships, one bonded by Shakespeare and lasting years—a friendship that, in the end, would save more than one life.