Laura Bates's Shakespeare Saved My Life touches on the search for meaning in life, the struggles that complicate the path to triumph and the salvation that can be found in literature's great works. Bates, a professor at Indiana State, is the creator of a program that introduces Shakespeare's works to prisoners, specifically those in long-term solitary confinement (known as supermax). Larry Newton, sentenced at the age of 17 to life with no possibility of parole, has spent 10 years in isolation.
When Bates brought her Shakespeare in Shackles program to Newton's supermax prison, his unexpected interest and understanding of the plays quickly became evident. In his initial assignment, in which he was asked to comment on a speech from Richard II, Newton expressed a sophisticated awareness of the play's philosophical themes and multiple interpretations--not bad for a fifth-grade drop-out who didn't know who Shakespeare was when the program started. Moving through each of the plays, Newton continued to show extraordinary insight--and made changes in his own personal outlook and behavior. Bates, meanwhile, found surprising satisfaction in working with students who, in solitary confinement, had great stretches of time available for reading and subsequent interpretation.
Shakespeare Saved My Life traces Newton's advancements into the world of Shakespeare while documenting Bates's stalled path to tenure despite her groundbreaking prison work. In the end, though, the book's title holds true for both Newton and Bates--just as it might for the reader, too. --Roni K. Devlin, owner, Literary Life Bookstore