A Question of Innocence: On Writing About Real and Imagined Lives In and Outside of Prison
This spring, I read Harriet Clark’s novel, The Hill, about a girl named Suzanna who grows up visiting her mother in a prison on a hill. I had just published a long Mother’s Day essay in Esquire, grappling with having.
The article explores the parallel lives of two writers, Harriet Clark and John J. Lennon, who both have personal connections to prison through their mothers. Harriet Clark is the author of The Hill, a novel about a girl named Suzanna who grows up visiting her imprisoned mother, Judith Clark. Harriet’s mother was sentenced to 75 years to life for her role as a getaway driver in the 1981 Brinks armored truck heist, which resulted in the deaths of a Brinks guard and two police officers. John J. Lennon, a journalist and writer, served 25 years in prison and wrote an essay titled Happy Mother’s Day, from Prison for Esquire, reflecting on his mother’s struggles and his own experiences. Both writers grapple with themes of abandonment, guilt, and the impact of prison on families.
Harriet Clark’s novel The Hill is described as fiction that rhymes with real life, meaning it closely mirrors her own experiences growing up with an imprisoned mother. Harriet was eleven months old during the Brinks robbery and was raised by her grandmother, though she also received mentorship from people in her mother’s revolutionary group. Similarly, John J. Lennon’s essay explores his mother’s complex role in his upbringing, including her struggles with poverty, misogyny, and her own traumatic past. Both writers use their work to examine the emotional and psychological toll of having a parent in prison, as well as the societal judgments placed on mothers and prisoners.
The article discusses the themes of guilt and innocence in Harriet Clark’s novel and John J. Lennon’s writing. Harriet initially struggled with the idea of portraying her narrator, Suzanna, as innocent, as she felt children often feel guilty rather than innocent. In early versions of The Hill, Suzanna was burdened with a sense of guilt, such as believing she caused an accident. Harriet’s goal was to humanize prisoners and show that even those who have committed crimes deserve compassion. John J. Lennon reflects on his mother’s struggles and his own feelings of guilt and shame, particularly in relation to his mother’s past, including her experiences with sex work and abuse.
Both writers highlight the dehumanizing conditions of prison and their impact on families. Harriet Clark’s novel portrays the prison environment through the eyes of a child, revealing its brutality and the emotional toll it takes on visitors and inmates alike. John J. Lennon’s essay describes his mother’s abandonment of him as a child, leaving him alone at night, and his own experiences in prison, where he observed immature behavior among inmates. Harriet emphasizes that the prison system itself, rather than individual guilt or innocence, is a source of suffering for many.
The article examines the role of writing as both a cathartic process and a responsibility for the writers. Harriet Clark describes writing The Hill as a way to access and process deep-seated feelings of loneliness, helplessness, and shame, though she notes that the process did not provide full catharsis. John J. Lennon discusses the challenges of writing about his mother, including balancing honesty with sensitivity to her privacy and the feelings of his family. Both writers acknowledge the potential harm their writing can cause to others, such as the families of crime victims, and reflect on how this responsibility shapes their creative process.
The article explores the societal tendency to blame mothers for the suffering of their children, even when those mothers face structural and social constraints. Harriet Clark and John J. Lennon both challenge this narrative in their work. Harriet’s novel and John’s essay depict mothers who, despite their flaws, are also victims of systemic issues like poverty and misogyny. The writers argue that society unfairly expects mothers to provide perfect care while offering little support, which often leads to blame when mothers fail to meet these impossible standards.
The article highlights the redemption of Harriet Clark’s mother, Judith Clark, who was sentenced to 75 years to life for her role in the Brinks robbery. In 2016, then Governor Andrew Cuomo commuted her sentence, and she was later paroled. Judith has since become an advocate for incarcerated people, particularly those who are victims of domestic violence, through her role as the Director of the Survivors Justice Project. Harriet expresses pride in her mother’s transformation and the positive impact she has had on others. This story contrasts with the more complicated relationship John J. Lennon has with his mother, who struggled with her own trauma and parenting.
Both writers reflect on how the constraints of their circumstances—such as writing from prison or grappling with the emotional weight of their subjects—have shaped their creative processes. John J. Lennon describes writing on a 6-inch tablet while lying on the floor of his prison cell, using an overturned milk crate as a makeshift desk. Harriet Clark discusses how the need to protect the privacy of others influenced her writing of *The Hill*, though she found that fiction could be just as exposing as nonfiction. They both suggest that these constraints can push writers to explore new creative avenues rather than limit their work.
