The Many Lives of Mama Love: A Memoir of Lying, Stealing, Writing and Healing is exactly what the title promises. Lara Love Hardin has lived many lives and I’m so grateful that she decided to share them with us - writing with so much vulnerability and honesty, even about the things that she did wrong.

I loved The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton and have often recommended it - but I had no idea about the life of his co-author. I would put both of these books on a Must Read List about our justice system - along with Just Mercy and A Knock at Midnight. Our justice system has a lot of really big issues and it’s important for us to learn and find ways to help make change - including how we vote.

While that all seems (and is) heavy - I also need to tell you how very readable this book was. It feels like Lara Love Hardin is sitting at a table with us over a cup of coffee and telling us about her life - from the lows of addiction and incarceration to the highs of lunch with Oprah. I highly recommend this book and am thankful to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook. I also recommend the audiobook read by the author - I think memoirs are almost always best when read by the author.

My thanks to Net Galley and Simon and Schuster for an advanced copy of this e-book. And many thanks to Simon and Schuster and Goodreads for a copy of the paperback arc of this wonderful book.

Lara Love Hardin tells her story from her days growing up and not having the parental guidance she needed yet still made it to college and grad school. Her first "addiction" was her books (and I can totally relate to this!). But her later addiction was much worse - heroin. This cost her money, time with her kids, her marriage, and finally her freedom.

It was when she was in jail that she was given the name Mama Love by her fellow inmates. First one helped her and as she grew stronger physically and was able to help her fellow inmates, they came to look up to her as a mentor.

Her story, like most addicts, has steps forward and backward. Drugs, especially heroin and meth, are hard demons to get rid of in your life. But her love for her children and her determination brought her back to her books and writing and got a job at a literary agency.

Her life story is compelling and inspiring and I recommend this book. The audio is narrated by Lara Love Hardin, and enhances the book to read while listening to the author.

Lara Love Hardin was an unlikely drug addict. A married suburban mother raising children in a blended family, she had a beautiful home and a business. But an addict she was. Nothing, not even the horror of losing her children, could stop her from chasing that next high. (“𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘺𝘴. 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘴.”)⁣
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This book is a mesmerizing and unflinching look at the illness of drug addiction and how it permeates our society. I simply could not put this book down. My heart ached for Lara and her children as they entered the criminal court and family court system in our country, which is in need of serious reform. Even when Lara inevitably slid back into using again, I was oddly uplifted by her struggle and the dignity with which she carried herself. ⁣
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I don’t know how Lara survived jail but she did. (𝘑𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 1950𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘈 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘈 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥. 𝘈 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘨.”)⁣
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Told with darkly funny prose, you can’t help but be in awe of how she survived the nightmare of this season in her life.⁣
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And once she was finally released and put on probation, that became a whole other set of insurmountable challenges to face. Our probation system is basically set up for people to fail, and I was so relieved when Lara was finally able to get a job and be reunited with her children.⁣
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This book is a must-read for everyone to understand how woman are treated in our criminal justice system and to understand the true liberation of forgiveness. 5 stars!⁣
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(𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.)

The Many Lives of Mama Love is a heartfelt memoir that will stay with you for a long time. Lara had it all, until she didn't. She had a life many only dream of, but somewhere along the line addiction grabbed ahold of her and held on tight until she lost everything including her youngest son, her home, and her freedom. She was charged with 32 felonies ranging from drugs to identity theft.

I won't pretend to understand addiction in any capacity, but I can tell you one thing... our justice system needs to do better. I realize that it's not the justice system that initially causes people to fall victim to addiction, but it certainly is the cause for repeated failures to get clean as she describes in detail what all she had to do to walk the straight and narrow to not end up back in jail as so many do. The system is set up to fail those that want to do better, turn their lives around, to the point that giving in to that "need" is the only choice they feel they have left. I've seen in it my own family over the last 10 months.

Lara doesn't give up, she bust her butt to do the right things, everything that is required of her, and still she lives in fear that one little thing can land her back in jail.

My heart goes out to Lara. I'm so dang proud of her for turning her life around, for not being another statistic. She proved them all wrong.

The fact that she co-wrote one of the best memoirs I've ever read (The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton) was just icing on the cake. That book left me gutted, much like her own memoir.

Labeled “The Neighbor From Hell” by the town newspaper, Lara Love Hardin tells the story of how she was able to change her life around from addict, thief, convicted felon to trusted mother, successful author and productive citizen. The transformation was a difficult road made all the harder by a broken justice and correctional system that had departments who simply failed to communicate with each other. This book was very well written and engaging. While it was not written with the express purpose of exposing cracks in the justice system, her experience highlights the shortcomings of our prison systems and procedures. It also highlighted the difference just one person can make to encourage and instill hope in someone who desperately needs it. Fortunately she had several individuals who were able to do that for her when she was at her lowest. I was especially touched reading the sections about her friendships that were developed with other women in jail Even if you don’t typically enjoy reading biographies I think you will be surprised by this one. #netgalley #TheManyLivesofMamaLove

I really enjoyed the themes of love and redemption in this story. Typically I don’t read memoirs but both the cover and the description really grabbed me for this one. I felt personally connected to the author by the end of it and would be excited to read another book by her in either the memoir space or a novel.

Laura Love Hardin's memoir is a testament to the power of story to heal the writer in the act of telling, and to change the reader in the act of reading. Following Hardin as she hit rock bottom in her life was no easy read, but it was both eye and heart opening. I raised my family in Santa Cruz County, where Hardin's memoir is set, and lived there for 25 years, familiar with the courthouse, jail, and communities she names. And though we lived at opposite ends of the County, the connection of place illuminated the struggles Hardin recounts in a personal way. I know people who've struggled with addiction, and my patience has been tried when their efforts to quit failed. I grew up the daughter of a sheriff, and once thought the justice system was just, and that when a person finished serving their sentence, they were free to start over without encumbrance. Hardin's experiences, recounted in exquisite and excruciating detail, shattered every illusion I still held about the process of overcoming addiction, as well as the ramifications of having a criminal record. Through Hardin's difficult journey, the reader comes to see that the opioid epidemic and the policies we make about criminality and punishment are never theoretical, but have deep and lasting impacts on real people in real places.

Wow, what a journey. I appreciated Lara’s unflinching honesty and self-reflection. My heart broke for her and also rooted for her the entire time. Lara is a gifted writer, which makes this memoir hard to put down. I learned a lot and felt connected to this amazing woman and mom.

Are we defined by the worst thing we've ever done? This is the question Lara Love wrestles with after struggling with drug addiction, stealing, losing custody of her son, and eventually going to jail.
This book is a story of redemption and love. Not only do we see the personal story of Lara, we also see the many flaws of a justice system devised to stack the cards against you. It's powerful and moving.

backyardroses_
THE MANY LIVES OF MAMA LOVE

Lara Love Hardin's memoir about her fall from PTA mom to prison shot caller. The story hooked me from the beginning and I read it so quickly. If you liked Orange is the New Black you will love Lara's book. On sale today

Even if memoirs aren't your usual genre I would highly encourage you to give this one a try. Lara's writing is captivating and self reflective. You can't help but root for her.

Many thanks to @simonbooks for the ARC and congratulations to @laralovehardin on her amazing memoir ❤️

tw: addiction, suicidal thoughts

A Shocking, Truthful Commentary – Blazing Memoir

From the very first page, I knew this author could write. She grew up absorbing every book, reading and reading, escaping into a different world to ignore her reality.

I was shocked at the opening scenes and then the transference of pain and abuse became worse on every page. Lara Love was a young woman with five male children and an exhaustive life of trying to make things work while she depended on drugs and lies. She did love her children, but she could not provide for them with love or money. Drugs got in the way, and to attain this life, she would steal credit cards and cash, from anyone, including her friends.

It's a sad commentary on our penal system, the disrespect to women is off the charts. But there is nothing that could be done to help the petty criminals and their suffering children.

It is hard to believe she survived the “Tombs,” and survived the humiliation of being poor, a woman and an addict. Lara Love is a smart woman, street smart and intellectually brilliant. She knew becoming an addict would destroy her family and herself. But she did become the brightest woman in jail; that it no honor but she became a survivor.

What was heartbreaking to me is that no adult family member tried to help and love her. She became a winner, all by herself. Her intellect saved her, she is lucky.

My gratitude to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this pre-published book. All opinions expressed are my own.

4.5 stars - Free ARC from Net Galley: This book pulled me in from the very start. Following Lara’s addiction fueled plunge from soccer mom to desperate inmate had me riveted. Her story of losing her kids, acclimating to jail, clawing her way back so she can gain custody of her youngest child was powerful. The description of the competing probation requirements was jaw dropping. The final portion of the book outlining how she found her niche, how her writing career took off and the kindness of Doug and a few others who accepted Lara as she was kept me turning the pages to the end. This is a powerful and ultimately uplifting memoir. Lara’s insights have me examining my own prejudices and judgements as I honestly don’t know that I could be as trusting as Doug. Highly recommend this memoir!!

Lara Love was an addict and made some really bad choices. In this memoir she talks about her addiction, her time in jail, but mostly her time on probation and how the system is set up for many newly released prisoners to fail. She went on to be a famous ghost writer and is now also writing under her own name. This book explores addition and relationships and their impact on a family, as well as how a newly sober and released person must navigate all of the requirements of probation, family court, getting and holding jobs when no one will hire you, and being ready for the workforce.
This is quite a book.

This book is a mash-up of Orange is the New Black, Hillbilly Ellegy, and a Jeannette Wall book. She writes about her struggles so honestly. She says over and over again how scared she was for her past to come out that she took ahold of the narrative herself. If you like social justice books or just memoirs, definitely put this one on your list.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

I LOVE this book. Lara is honest and real as she depicts what happened to her after her suburban soccer mom life fell apart. She is a heavy drug user, and after beginning to steal from friends and neighbors, is convicted of 37 felonies and sent to jail in Santa Cruz. This ended up being the best thing for her as she gets the chance to turn her life around. It's not easy, and she shines a light on the issues facing people convicted of crimes. I was rooting for her and for her family throughout! I highly recommend this one!

Thank you @simonbooks @netgalley and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC before it is published in exchange for my honest review.

Lara Love Hardin asks “How do you move beyond the worst thing you’ve done in your life?” on an Instagram post.
Her memoir recalls her notorious headline as “The Neighbor From Hell” (still searchable online) convicted of 32 felonies including identity theft of her neighbors as she funded her addiction to heroin while still attempting to create a stable life for her sons.
Her story recounts her time as an inmate, as well as her difficult path to redemption in our criminal justice system.

This memoir made me think about how we, as a society, are often too reluctant to offer one another a second chance to be productive citizens, how we can effect change to improve our criminal justice system and be more compassionate.

When we focus on holding someone accountable for a crime, we overlook that person’s value as a human being. We need to think about how we can offer programs of rehabilitation and make the journey to redemption possible.

I was impressed by Mama Love’s grit and determination to return to her sons, and make a life for herself when the odds were stacked against her success.
There are many more lessons in this incredible book, and I would add this to your nonfiction reading right away.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️must read memoir (Buy it Tuesday)

Read this if
💗 you enjoy reading memoirs
🙌🏻 believe in forgiveness and second chances
🫶🏻 love excellent narrative nonfiction writing
🌅 want to read about an incredible mother who worked hard to return to her family & society
❤️Just as an anecdote- I kept calling this book The Many Loves of Mama Love and this is a great alternate title to have in my mind. I feel she is a support and love for many people in her life.❤️

The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin is the super compelling story of a woman living a seemingly wonderful, normal, life as a suburban mother of four boys who becomes addicted to narcotics. To support her habit, she steals from others and is arrested and convicted of 32 felonies. This is the story of this very low time in her life and how she overcomes so many roadblocks, both personal and systemic, to become a successful writer and to reintegrate into life as a mother and wife. Her writing is strong and propulsive and reads like fiction! Highly recommend!!

This book will surely be compared to Orange is the New Black, and it does touch on the prison system, but it’s more so a look back at the resilience and path of one woman whose life surely looked like it was on a tailspin into an abyss of drug use and prison.

Lara Love Hardin has had books on bestseller lists, she’s lunched with Oprah and had The Dalai Lama look into her soul. She was also an addict, has been in jail, has stolen from her neighbors and lost custody of her kids. This novel is her coming out and also her battle cry for those in a broken system and/or those who create negative narratives about themselves. Here she details her dysfunctional relationships, her addictions, her fight for her kids and how she launched her successful career.

This is a very well written memoir on a subject I’ve read about before but never from the perspective of a mom who could be in a carpool pickup with my kids. I was torn between sympathy and exasperation as Hardin descended into drug use and bad decision making. But I learned a lot about the “system” and frankly I’m amazed anyone can get out of it! Once you’re in prison, jail, or have gone into drug abuse programs it’s like a gauntlet of rules, appointments, and catch-22s. How do you get a job with a record? How do you stay clean when drugs are rampant in jail? How can you pay for anything if you can’t get welfare for having a prior drug record? The people that come out of this have my applause, no my standing ovation. Hardin was lucky enough to be a very skilled writer and she since has had a lot of success as a ghost writer and co author. She’s also worked very hard for it all. I found the story riveting and it opened my eyes and even tampered down some judgement I probably had around drug use. In all a very worthy read to add to your list, especially if you enjoy memoirs about strong women.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Lara Love Hardin for this ARC.

I have so many thoughts on our justice system. Being from California I have seen first hand how bad it is. She made the most of it and her story is very inspiring.

I am not, in any way, excusing her behavior. What she did was terrible; however, she did her time and took responsibility for her actions.

I encourage everyone to pick up this book, read it, pass it on to someone else and then take action. Take action in justice reform. We badly need it.

Rating: 3.5 stars

Rating a memoir is hard. How do you judge someone's life experience?

Mary Love Hardin describes her life as a recovered addict when she's arrested, and later found guilty, of fraud, her time in jail, and once she was out of jail. It's important to know Mary Love Hardin is a well-educated, upper middleclass white cis woman. Hardin also talks briefly on the impact her actions had on her children while she was incarcerated.

I'm not going to argue that Hardin is a gifted writer. Her story is easy to read and well written. I felt that Hardin was just skimming the surface of her experience for this memoir. I felt myself wanting to know more about those inside her cell block when she talked about her time in jail, than Hardin. The stories of these women, mostly women of color, were more compelling. Hardin's work as a ghost writer was also interesting, but she chose to focus primarily on two Black men she worked with.

My problem with this memoir stems, not only from wanting more from Hardin herself, but from what feels like exploitation for personal gain of the people of color she writes about. Will the people she talks about in her book also be compensated for their stories? I doubt it. Their stories make up as much the story as Hardin's. It just gives me bad vibes. I can be completely off-base, but those my feelings.

Thank you to Simon Books and Netgalley for an advanced copy.

I love a good memoir and this one is outstanding. This amazing memoir grabbed me from the first chapter and didn’t let go. When an author is able to tell their life story this perfectly, they deserve an award. Thanks to Lara Love Hardin, I’ve had a glimpse of a life different from mine that leaves me feeling more compassion for people who end up in bad situations. This memoir will stay with me for a long time.