This anthology chronicles the stories of a diverse cross-section of women caught up in the prison system in both Canada and the U.S. The heart-wrenching, often humorous, and coldly realistic tales, compiled through interviews conducted over a period of 30 years by scholar Karlene Faith and activist Anne Near, provide a broad overview of not only the prison “justice” system, but of how systemic inequality forms the backdrop to incarceration. The books also captures the humiliation, hopelessness, and tragedy attendant to a life spent in prison.

Each chapter begins with an introduction by the editors and concludes with reflections on the topic at hand. The subjects are far-ranging: Diane, who spends three years in prison – and subsequently loses custody of her children – over the selling of an ounce of marijuana; Betty Krawczyk, who is jailed for her environmental, non-violent activism; First Nations women, whose stories are conflated but who share the triple oppressions of race, class, and gender.

The editors do not sentimentalize their subjects, nor are they apologists for what are sometimes violent and disturbing acts. However, what emerges is a poignant, gripping, and disturbing tribute to this underclass of women largely silenced, ignored, and abandoned by society, and who must face a lifetime of either a jail cell or the caged lifestyle of poverty and hopelessness once they are out.

Some of the stories are rambling and unfocused, reflecting the interview-like nature of the process. It is often difficult to take in the sheer breadth of the complexity of these women’s lives and the level of violence and abuse that many of them have faced. But in the end, these stories remind us that we cannot turn away from what these women and their stories represent: the failure to provide a safe, secure, and liberated world.