Rating: 
Summary: The Prisoner's Wife
Review: I am the prisoners wife. Asha has written my story and the story of countless other women who share a common bond; a link with the penal systems umblical cord that attempts to severe and dehumanizes our beings and at the same time awaken our systems with it shock treatments of rules and regulations. I am the prisoner's wife. My story begins in Ohio, my life begins in California.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful, Sad and Hope-filled
Review: What a wonderful, sad but hopeful story. I enjoyed asha bandele's memoir so much that I am planning to read it again and again, that is, twicemore. This is a love story as the author indicates in the opening and closing pages of the book. It is wonderful in that asha is a great writer. She is clearly a gifted poet and such a kind person to share such a personal part of her life with us. The book reads like a song with a rythm that goes straight to your heart. It is a sad story in many ways but particularly in two ways. So many people, in particular African American men, are caught up in the nation's prison industrial complex. The limitations and humilations that these two people face within the prison walls left me feeling exhausted at times, in particular, when the two were interrupted during lovemaking. There is no doubt that Rashid deserves to serve time for the crime that he committed. Both he and asha acknowledge this. But it is sad that we live in a world that does not value children. Thus many end up with the very lives that asha and Rashid are fighting to overcome in order to allow love to come into their lives. It is hopeful in that it is a love story between a black man and woman. Something that we rarely see, hear, or perhaps even think about. It gave me hope that perhaps relationships between all men and women can be passionate, honest, and open. I was saddened to read comments by some readers that referred to asha as insecure and desperate. Saddened that they were not able to see this story as a gift from asha. She lets us know that love is NOT a Harlequin or Arabasque romance novel. There is no doubt that the relationship that she shares with Rashid has many limitations, but the openness and honesty that these two people share can serve as an example for those of us involved in "normal" relationships. I highly recommend that anyone who wants to share love with someone read this book. One of the best things that two people can do when they come together is to share their hurts and pains from the past so as not to inflict that same abuse on one another. Asha and Rashid have done this and I assume they continue to do so everyday. Thank you Sister asha.
Rating:
Summary: What a way with language!
Review: Wow! I simply fell in love with the language asha used in the novel. I am not in love with a man in prison, but my nephew is in prison for second degree murder. So many of the emotions asha felt, I have felt, also. There is truth to so many of her statements. While I would never think her husband should be released early, and I don't expect my nephew to be viewed sympathetically by the general public, I wish more people would read the book and understand the simple eloquence of words which capture someone's heartache and pain so clearly. She speaks many truths which the American public is afraid to face...the brutality of loving someone in prison...the ugly realities faced by family members. Too often, the public forgets that the murderer's family also feels pain and heartache. We, too, are controlled by the rules of the prison. We, too, are deemed as "bad" people because we refuse to stop loving someone who has done something wrong. We, too, are humiliated and embarrassed every time we enter the prison walls. We feel so many things we cannot explain to the people who haven't experienced it. asha captures these emotions...pain, fear, loneliness, helplessness, shame, and unexplainable joy and occasional pride...that so many people feel for various reasons(I don't believe that only people who love someone in prison feel this way) in beautiful, captivating language. You don't have to love a prisoner to feel these universal truths about life! She expresses them eloquently! Stretch you mind. Think past your preconceived ideas concerning prisoners and the people who love them. Give this novel a chance to grab you by the heart and pull you into a heartwrenching experience with the magic of beautiful language. Lose yourself in true emotion!
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: I loved this book. It touched my heart in every way and I understand what the author is going through because Im going through a similar situation. I give her the most respect for writing about a subject (loving an inmate) that most people refuse to acknowlege as valid. It's hard to understand how you could love a man who society has labeled a lost cause until you find yourself there. The Prisoner's Wife does a good job of helping people begin to understand the power of love. Please read the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been better.
Review: After all the mixed reviews I read on this book I felt it was my duty to go out and read it. I belive that Asha needed to look deeper within herself to find love for herself. I thought that this book was mediocre. The reason being, I read this book hoping to find out what a woman in her right mind was going through by being married to a prisoner. Through the whole book I was waiting for the part where she was going to face reality and stand up for what is right and what is wrong by approaching Rashid about the murder in the first place. I mean think about it. She did not know Rashid from a hole in the wall and yet she never asked about the murder. That's very nieve to me. Rashid was a murderer. Rashid is a murderer, and by her standing by his side shows that Asha passed his crime off as nothing. What does he deserve to be free cuz she loved him and that was her man. Please. And yet she was hurt when his appeal was declined. I mean for pete's sake, does a man was serves years in jail for taking ones life deserve a second chance. I commend her though because she was a courageous woman who did find love in the long run but with the wrong man from what I think. She emphasised her love to Rashid in a way where I really felt that she understood what "true love" meant. I believe that in the long run Asha will see the Real man Rashid really is. And to me that is selfish. How could a man behind bars for so many years allow a women to give her all knowing the outcome of the situation. It's totally unacceptable for a man behind bars to even have any wants. I believe Asha is a beautiful write and has a gift for it but "The Prisoner's Wife needed a little more work.
Rating: 
Summary: Smart woman, foolish choice
Review: Asha Bandele writes in a beautiful, lyrical style that I fell in love with, however, I found her story to be one of "poor me": Poor me, my man's locked up, poor me I can't finish getting my freak on because the guards are at the door, poor me, I got pregnant and I'm broke. She did not once take responsibility for her choices, and talks over and over again about the fall out from her lack of judgement without ever examining WHY she lacks judgement or HOW she can make better choices. I wanted to pop her upside the head! I read the book to get insight as to how and why a woman would marry a convicted criminal while he was still behind bars, but I came away none the wiser. She has a beautiful voice, but it would be better served a more worthy story than this.
Rating:
Summary: Full of Fluff
Review: The only reason I gave this book 3 stars is that it helped me see the pattern I had of staying in dysfunctional relationships and she gave a very realistic ending. The writing was horrendeous. Only a few paragraphs had any substance. The few insights about Rashid made him out to be Ghandi -- he was a murderer! Both of them, asha and Rashid, were manipulative. She got a safe relationship from someone who was a captive audience since he couldn't go anywhere and needed her as a connection to the outside. She used him to create a barrier between her and other men. If someone else rejected her she could always run to Rashid. All of you women who are dating a prisoner, get your acts together. Go after someone who is available. Those men put themselves in the situation to be arrested. They did not give a damn about anybody else's needs when they made the decision to commit a crimes. Please seek love within yourself so that you can be loved and love someone who is available -- emotionally and physically. Also, asha should realize that prison guards are under a lot of stress. Their lives are in constant danger and they have to suspect anyone who may aid in the release of a prisoner.
Rating:
Summary: This book read my heart, my soul was there in it'zs pages
Review: I just finished "The Prisoner's Wife", my tears have not yet dried. I felt immediately compelled to search the internet for an address to write to Ms. Bandele, and that brought me here. Now i am compelled to add my voice to the others who understand and were touched by her words, but more her feelings...emotions...the core of her. I too love a man in prison, but he is in prison for life. I pray for Asha and Rashid, that they will someday know total bliss and completetion of soul everyday, all day, rather than for small inadequate moments of time. I pray it for myself as well. I feel her pain because i live it, and i have just begun. The most important thing for me to say is this; Thank You Asha, for giving my pain a voice in the world, and for helping me to feel just a little less alone. ** a sister of the heart.... "this is a love story"
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Summary: THE TRUTH WAS FINALLY TOLD
Review: THIS BOOK HAS NOT ONLY TOUCHED MY HEART ALSO MY WORLD. YOU SEE I AM ALSO IN LOVE WITH A MAN WHO IS IN PRISON, HE IS EXPECTED TO BE RELEASED IN JAN. 2002. ASHA HIT HOME WITH THE LOVE THAT SHE AND RASHID HAS, I'M SO GLAD THAT SOMEONE ELSE HAS WALKED IN MY SHOES, AND BEEN THE PLACES I HAVE. YOU GAVE IT TO THE PEOPLE REAL ASHA. TEARS FLOWED DOWN MY FACE AS THEY FLOWED DOWN ASHA'S FACE, I KNOW YOUR PAIN, AND THE LIGHT YOU HAVE REFLECTED ON MY PICTURE IS TRULY A BLESSING. HANG IN THERE GIRL, I KNOW RASHID STILL LOVES YOU. I'VE TOO HAVE CRIED THE SAME PRAYER,THIS IS THE BEST BOOK I'VE READ IN 2000! KEEP GIVING IT TO US REAL.ASANTE SANA
Rating:
Summary: Only one voice
Review: Asha, in telling her story, gives an audible voice to all families of inmates who, out of fear of retaliation on their loved ones, are forced to remain silent. I, as the wife of an inmate, applaud Asha for her courage in speaking the truth - giving the public another perspective of the wide ranging impact that incarceration has on couples and families. Unfortunately, not all couples are able to endure the prison experience. It is designed to discourage, fragment, isolate and humiliate couples in every area of their relationship. My hope is that everyone who reads this memoir is aware that Asha speaks for many of us who can only quietly whisper our own stories of pain.
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