Harriet Clark's Debut Novel Explores Life with an Imprisoned Parent

Harriet Clark spent a lifetime visiting her mother, an ex-Weather Underground member, in prison: ‘The US has always used family separation to destabilize’

Clark was an infant when her mother was arrested. Her debut novel asks what it’s like for children who have only ever known a parent in prison In Harriet Clark’s debut novel, The Hill, a nun explains what it’s like for babies born in prison. “They don’t know that they are in prison,” she says, “but they know when we force them to leave.” The book’s child protagonist is Suzanna, whose mother has been serving a life sentence for as long as she can remember. There is no expectation that Suzanna ...

By Hannah Kingsley-Ma