The Many Lives of Mama Love (Oprah's Book Club): A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing
“Once you start reading, be prepared, because you won’t want to stop.” —Oprah Winfrey
OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • New York Times bestselling author Lara Love Hardin recounts her slide from soccer mom to opioid addict to jailhouse shot caller and her unlikely comeback as a highly successful ghostwriter in this harrowing, hilarious, no-holds-barred memoir.
No one expects the police to knock on the door of the million-dollar two-story home of the perfect cul-de-sac housewife. But soccer mom Lara Love Hardin has been hiding a shady secret: she is funding her heroin addiction by stealing her neighbors’ credit cards.
Lara is convicted of thirty-two felonies and becomes inmate S32179. She finds that jail is a class system with a power structure that is somewhere between an adolescent sleepover party and Lord of the Flies. Furniture is made from tampon boxes, and Snickers bars are currency. But Lara quickly learns the rules and brings love and healing to her fellow inmates as she climbs the social ladder and acquires the nickname “Mama Love,” showing that jailhouse politics aren’t that different from the PTA meetings she used to attend.
When she’s released, she reinvents herself as a ghostwriter. Now, she’s legally co-opting other people’s identities and getting to meet Oprah, meditate with the Dalai Lama, and have dinner with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. But the shadow of her past follows her. Shame is a poison worse than heroin—there is no way to detox. Lara must learn how to forgive herself and others, navigate life as a felon on probation, and prove to herself that she is more good than bad, among other essential lessons.
The Many Lives of Mama Love is a heartbreaking and tender journey from shame to redemption, despite a system that makes it almost impossible for us to move beyond the worst thing we have ever done.
OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK • New York Times bestselling author Lara Love Hardin recounts her slide from soccer mom to opioid addict to jailhouse shot caller and her unlikely comeback as a highly successful ghostwriter in this harrowing, hilarious, no-holds-barred memoir.
No one expects the police to knock on the door of the million-dollar two-story home of the perfect cul-de-sac housewife. But soccer mom Lara Love Hardin has been hiding a shady secret: she is funding her heroin addiction by stealing her neighbors’ credit cards.
Lara is convicted of thirty-two felonies and becomes inmate S32179. She finds that jail is a class system with a power structure that is somewhere between an adolescent sleepover party and Lord of the Flies. Furniture is made from tampon boxes, and Snickers bars are currency. But Lara quickly learns the rules and brings love and healing to her fellow inmates as she climbs the social ladder and acquires the nickname “Mama Love,” showing that jailhouse politics aren’t that different from the PTA meetings she used to attend.
When she’s released, she reinvents herself as a ghostwriter. Now, she’s legally co-opting other people’s identities and getting to meet Oprah, meditate with the Dalai Lama, and have dinner with Archbishop Desmond Tutu. But the shadow of her past follows her. Shame is a poison worse than heroin—there is no way to detox. Lara must learn how to forgive herself and others, navigate life as a felon on probation, and prove to herself that she is more good than bad, among other essential lessons.
The Many Lives of Mama Love is a heartbreaking and tender journey from shame to redemption, despite a system that makes it almost impossible for us to move beyond the worst thing we have ever done.
BUY THE BOOK
Join a book club that is reading The Many Lives of Mama Love (Oprah's Book Club): A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing!
Community Reviews
What Bookclubbers are saying about this book
✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI
Readers say *The Many Lives of Mama Love* is an inspiring memoir of resilience, addiction, and redemption that resonates deeply with those facing stru...
"The truth is I’ve only ever had one addiction. The white whale of addictions: escape. From as far back as I can remember there has always been a better place than wherever I am. A better me than whoever I was."
Overall, this was well-written and engaging.
The obvious comparison for me is to the Kari Farrell memoir You'll Never Believe Me.... Like Farrell, Love Hardin seemed to push the accountability for her crimes onto her victims, pointing out that she preyed on her soccer-mom counterparts and neighbours, whose foolish self-assurance and entitlement left them vulnerable to her thievery.
Then again, addicts not in recovery will justify and excuse anything.
Where the two part ways is in tone. Where Farrell exuded snark and wit, Love Hardin's approach was more humble. She talked a lot about guilt and shame, about her heartbreak over her separation from her sons, the youngest in particular. She spoke about her fear that her incarceration had caused unspeakable and lasting damage to him. There was definitely a question of whether I could trust her authenticity or whether she is simply playing on my capacity for empathy.
Despite my misgivings, I was drawn to her compelling story of mistakes, punishments, and redemption.
Oh Mama, this was good! Lara Love was a successful woman, wife, and mother until she wasn't. She was addicted to heroin and opiates, and is charged with 32 felonies, including stealing credit cards from her neighbor's mailboxes to help fund her addiction. She was convicted of these charges and is set to lose custody of her youngest son forever. Her year in confinement passes slowly while she learns the hierarchy of the jail. She flips her hustle into healing while in jail and earns the respect and nickname Mama Love from her inmate friends.
However, returning to the real world is hard. Society is not set up for convicted felons to survive. She never gives up and she keeps making progress and stays clean. Her story is hopeful as she navigates the world after incarceration. Her journey takes her to a meeting with Desmond Tuti, the Dalai Lama and Oprah!
This memoir is so well written. Today Lara is a successful literary agent and ghostwriter. She is a great example of how people can change when they want to. I know want to read The Sun Does Shine, a book she co-authored with Anthony Ray Hinton, a man who spent 30 years on death row for a crime he didn't commit. And it just happens to be an Oprah pick.
However, returning to the real world is hard. Society is not set up for convicted felons to survive. She never gives up and she keeps making progress and stays clean. Her story is hopeful as she navigates the world after incarceration. Her journey takes her to a meeting with Desmond Tuti, the Dalai Lama and Oprah!
This memoir is so well written. Today Lara is a successful literary agent and ghostwriter. She is a great example of how people can change when they want to. I know want to read The Sun Does Shine, a book she co-authored with Anthony Ray Hinton, a man who spent 30 years on death row for a crime he didn't commit. And it just happens to be an Oprah pick.
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.