Reading was her first addiction; but then came opiates. And so, despite the appearances of a perfect picket fence life, Lara steals credit cards and goes through people's mail, raiding identities to sustain her addiction until eventually she finds herself in a Californian prison.

She has to get to grip quickly with life behind bars. She doesn't know the street world of Santa Cruz so isn't sure who to be afraid of, defer to, or lord above - but she does know how to pretend. Within weeks, she understands every gang and all the prison slang, and is doling out advice and writing letters for the other girls in prison. She finds she has a talent for writing under the guise of others, for absolute empathy with them. Before long she's earned herself a nickname: 'Mama Love'.

The Many Lives of Mama Love is a beautiful, page-turning memoir about a powerful, redemptive journey with a surprising final act. It's about reaching rock bottom and clambering back up; about healing, shame and self-forgiveness, and about writing yourself a new path, with a different destiny.