My Bookshelf
From the Publisher:
Like Dead Man Walking and The Cloister Walk, this stirring book is a story of spiritual transformation, one that is all the more remarkable because that transformation took place late in life. For nearly thirty years, Mother Antonia has lived in Tijuana's La Mesa prison, where she ministers to some of the most maltreated inmates on earth. But before she took up her calling at age fifty, the Catholic nun was a Beverly Hills socialite who had been married and divorced twice and raised seven children. In chronicling her journey, The Prison Angel demonstrates the power of radical kindness to change the human heart.
From the Critics:
Lauren F. Winner - The Washington Post: Of course, not everyone will close The Prison Angel and decide to move to La Mesa. But no one will be untouched by this remarkable book about a remarkable woman.
Library Journal: This Pulitzer Prize-winning husband-and-wife reporting team looks at humanitarian Mother Antonia's work with the discerning eyes of seasoned journalists, giving us a story that both delves into her legendary spiritual counseling at a Mexican prison and helps us understand the nature of her work. The story of how Mary Clarke, a twice-divorced mother of seven, abandoned her affluent life in Los Angeles to work and live in a prison in the drug-trafficking capital of Tijuana is all the more compelling because it is not sensationalized. The authors relate the circumstances of prison life in the same matter-of-fact way that Mother Antonia (as she comes to be called) embraces them. Mother Antonia wages an unfailing battle to help everyone-criminal and victim alike-get such necessities as food, supplies, and dental work and presses for fundamental changes to the Mexican justice system. For 27 years, this extraordinary woman has been living in a prison cell in La Mesa trying to change the culture of the place from the inside. Thanks to the authors, this astonishing story of how one woman's journey of spiritual growth has transformed innumerable lives is now available as an inspiration to all. Highly recommended for all libraries.
Kirkus Reviews: Imagine Sister Helen Prejean speaking Spanish. Reporting duo Jordan and Sullivan-Washington Post writers who won the Pulitzer for a series of articles on the Mexican justice system-tell the life story of the extraordinary Mother Antonia, a Catholic sister who lives with and serves the inmates at Tijuana's La Mesa prison. Mother Antonia is remarkable not only for the constant, countless works of service and mercy she performs, but also because of her background. She grew up well heeled in Beverly Hills and married twice, survived two divorces and reared seven children before moving to the prison. Her strong call to serve the downtrodden began when, unfulfilled by motherhood, her mediocre second marriage and a dull day job, Mother Antonia-then known by her given name, Mary-began collecting clothes and medical supplies that were sent to help the needy in Korea. She excelled in her charity work, and her reputation as an angel of mercy grew. In 1965, a priest acquaintance took her to visit La Mesa. The trip turned into a calling, and Mary, who could not get the suffering Mexican prisoners off her mind or out of her heart, began visiting La Mesa more and more frequently, sometimes spending the night. In 1977, after her second marriage fell apart and her children had grown up, she decided to don a habit and move to the prison. The second half of the story, which chronicles Mother Antonia's work at La Mesa, drags a little. Admittedly, her good deeds are breathtaking: she convinces Mafia drug-lords to come clean; she gets food, glasses and toilet paper for the prisoners; she helps wrongfully incarcerated men go free. But chapter after chapter of this litany of good works grows tedious-unlike thefirst half, which culminates in Mary's move to Tijuana, the second has no change, turning point, tension or climax. Inspiring, if a touch hagiographic.
Barnes & Nobles Editors: Mary Clarke, the woman they call "Mother Antonia," has led two lives. Born in Beverly Hills in 1926, she grew up amidst the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. She married twice and raised five children; then, in the late '60s, she felt herself called to do charitable work in the ghastly prisons of Tijuana. For ten years, she shuttled between Los Angeles and Mexico, feeling an ever-growing commitment to the plight of the women inmates. Then, one day, while visiting La Mesa prison, "the worst of the worst," she had a life-changing experience: "I don't know why, but when I went into that prison, I felt like I had come home." She convinced the prison warden to allow her to move into a cell in the prison. On March 19, 1977, she moved in, sleeping on a bunk with female convicts below and above her. She has never left. This is her story, told by a Pulitzer Prize–winning husband-and-wife writing team.