The Prisoner: How a Mother's Shame Became the Gift of a Lifetime

Kerry Tucker seemed to be a typical suburban mother of two, but she had a terrible secret: she was stealing money from her employers. When her crime was discovered she was sentenced to seven years in a maximum-security prison, alongside Victoria’s most notorious criminals. Being incarcerated with murderers and drug dealers, however, was not nearly as daunting as having to tell her two young daughters why she was leaving them. The shame was almost unbearable. She knew that she could let the feelings of guilt and regret overwhelm her, or learn from her mistakes—and she owed it to her children to learn. As Kerry adjusted to life behind bars, she began to see her fellow inmates as more than simply "murderers" and "drug dealers"—they became real people with names and broken lives. And as they opened up to her, she realized that their situations were far more desperate than her own. Many of these women had violent home lives and were not getting parole simply because they couldn’t fill out the paperwork. Horrified, Kerry set about using her skills to represent them in parole hearings and child welfare issues, to great success. She also began to study and embarked on a degree. Today, Kerry has a PhD and has been reunited with her daughters. In her inspiring memoir, she reveals how her darkest hour became a turning point in her life and gave her a new-found purpose: to educate disadvantaged women. And to those who face their own rock bottom, her message is simple: never, ever give up.