I Dream About You | herstorywriters

I DREAM ABOUT YOU...

Stories of Addiction, Incarceration, and Family Love

What happens when the grip of addiction is stronger than love? Where does the heart travel?

I DREAM ABOUT YOU is a remarkable collection of 19 heart journeys, taking the reader through the tangled intersections of addiction, incarceration and family love. Seventeen were written by women and girls inside Suffolk County’s correctional facilities. Two were written by family members. As dreams of drugs forbidden in the life behind bars interweave with dreams of children lost and families abandoned, a full and important picture emerges, a testimony to the deep humanity that joins us, guiding us to look for new solutions in the field of addiction treatment and criminal justice reform.

With each chapter the understanding grows deeper: “Mommy, Do You Have Your Medicine,” “I Found My New Love,” “The Last Time I Would Hold My Daughter,” “Alone and Broken,” and “I Dream About a Peaceful Life.” Moving from memories of childhood, where the patterns began, into memories of motherhood and all stages of adulthood, stories like “The Little Blue Pills” and “Trying to Get Help” give an inside view of the work that needs to be done to address broken systems and provide tender care for those who have suffered, rather than relegating them to further punishment.

In the words of Liena Gurevich, PhD, Director of Hofstra University’s Criminology Program

This is the book we have all been waiting for, as we face the tragic consequences of the opioid epidemic. Through poignant and emotionally impactful recounting of intimate experiences with addiction and incarceration, I DREAM ABOUT YOU exposes the moral crisis of societal responses to addicted women, offering a unique and necessary, “from the ground,” perspective that will enrich the knowledge base of students, human service providers and advocates of criminal justice reform.

This collection was made possible through seed money from Charlotte Sheedy Literary Agency and the Malka Fund in Jewish Communal Fund.

Price $20