Point of View

This story is told from the point of view of Elaine Bartlett. She comes from a poor, poverty stricken family and has little education when she is arrested for the first and only time. She loves her children, and is very bitter toward the justice system. She clearly feels that her life has been stolen from her due to the Rockefeller drug laws which initiated her arrest.

Despite her upbringing and her incarceration, Elaine tells her story in a straight-forward manner. She goes to school while in prison, obtains her education and tries very hard to be a roll model to her children and siblings. She struggles to maintain a relationship with her children from behind bars. In the first few years of her incarceration, her relationship with her children remains close, but as the years go by it becomes harder and harder for her to...