Maynard Public Library is delighted to welcome Jean Trounstine for the release of her first work of fiction Motherlove--ten stories about an often-forgotten group—the mothers of children who kill.

Keyma Mack and Stacey Borden, whose lives have been touched by prison, will join Trounstine in the talk about how fact becomes fiction. Keyma and his mother were the inspiration for one of Trounstine's stories. Stacey founded New Beginnings Reentry Services for women after being incarcerated and earning degrees and awards.

Copies of Motherlove will be offered for free to  25  attendees by Concord Free Press with a suggested charitable donation.  Concord Free Press has an unusual business model. You can read more about it here.

About Motherlove: Motherlove is the powerful short-story collection from Jean Trounstine, an acclaimed writer and social-justice activist with a deep knowledge of the US prison system—and its devastating impact on our communities in Massachusetts and beyond. 

With deft writing and deep empathy, Trounstine explores the stories of ten mothers, each struggling with the aftermath of murder. While fictional, Trounstine’s characters are drawn from her more than thirty years of experience with prisoners and their families, making her stories all the more real and resonant.

“How brilliantly, and how heartbreakingly, Trounstine makes real the articles we read too often in our local newspapers. Her stories capture, in ways I’ve never seen before, the passionate and profound truth; every murder involves the loss of two lives. As soon as you open Motherlove, you’ll know that nothing is more important than to keep reading.” –Margo Livesey, author of The Road from Belhaven

About the Author: Jean Trounstine is an author, activist, and educator who has written extensively about the criminal legal system in America. She worked at Framingham Women’s Prison for a decade, where she directed eight plays for prisoners—resulting in her highly praised book, Shakespeare Behind Bars: The Power of Drama in a Women’s Prison. Her groundbreaking work is considered the first Shakespeare program launched in the U.S.

Motherlove is the first fiction work from Trounstine, author of six other books—from poetry to nonfiction—including Boy with a Knife: A Story of Murder, Remorse, and a Prisoner’s Fight for Justice.