The Many Lives of Mama Love (Oprah's Book Club): A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing, and Healing
Now including a new bonus chapter!
“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.
“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.
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Community Reviews
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.
I love your bravery you are a very brave person I love your story it is heartbreaking and I love how you can own it you own your own mistakes that is very rare these days usually people blame other people for their s*** and you didn't I admire that. I wish you the best of luck in your life and your career
This is a very interesting memoir of a suburban soccer mom who got addicted to prescription pain meds and then heroin. She eventually stole from her neighbors and friends to finance her habit. Her deeds caught up with her and she was arrested in front of the neighbors, went to jail, and almost lost custody of her children.
The book is about her struggle with addiction, incarceration, and shame. The sections about her life in jail are fascinating and I learned a lot about the difficulty of someone reentering society after serving time in jail. Most of all, it is about a mother's love, redemption, and how meaningful work is healing.
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