A review by duckoffimreading
The Many Lives of Mama Love: A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing by Lara Love Hardin

4.0

Very well written, first person storytelling telling of highly educated, middle class Lara Love who ends up battling not only addiction issues, but it ultimately the penal system as she shines a spotlight on how hard it is to rebuild a straight and narrow life post felony conviction and incarceration. Lara’s struggles with addiction, shame, and hopelessness underpin a “season” of her life. Her story highlights how felonies have a lifelong punishment that is systematically hard to escape. Hers is absolutely a story of rebuilding and finding oneself - using her darkest days as a unique strength. She goes on to ghostwrite The Sun Does Shine (which if you haven’t read, 5 read for sure!) with falsely convicted death row inmate Anthony Ray Hinton. She brings a humanity to the dark underside of addiction and bad decisions but find forgiveness her way out - both of herself and others. Her worst behavior doesn’t define her as a human. Relatable to a degree, I found myself absolutely sympathetic with a mother just trying to make things righter and a society and system that has a long memory.