A Little Piece of Light: A Memoir of Hope, Prison, and a Life Unbound

by Donna Hylton, Kristine Gasbarre (With), Eve Ensler (Foreword by)

Overview

Random Family meets Orange Is the New Black in A Little Piece of Light, a memoir of survival, redemption, hope, and sisterhood from a bold new voice on the front lines of the criminal justice reform movement.

Like so many women before her and so many women yet to come, Donna Hylton's early life was a nightmare of abuse that left her feeling alone and convinced of her worthlessness. In 1986, she took part in a horrific act and was sentenced to 25 years to life for kidnapping and second-degree murder. It seemed that Donna had reached the end--at age 19, due to her own mistakes and bad choices, her life was over.

A Little Piece of Light tells the heartfelt, often harrowing tale of Donna's journey back to life as she faced the truth about the crime that locked her away for 27 years...and celebrated the family she found inside prison that ultimately saved her. Behind the bars of Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, alongside this generation's most infamous criminals, Donna learned to fight, then thrive. For the first time in her life, she realized she was not alone in the abuse and misogyny she experienced--and she was also not alone in fighting back.

Since her release in 2012, Donna has emerged as a leading advocate for criminal justice reform and women's rights who speaks to politicians, violent abusers, prison officials, victims, and students to tell her story. But it's not her story alone, she is quick to say. She also represents the stories of thousands of women who have been unable to speak for themselves, until now.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316559218
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	06/05/2018
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	752 KB

About the Author

Donna Hylton is a women's rights activist, criminal justice reform advocate and accomplished public speaker. She helps women who have experienced traumatic events in to overcome their past traumas and transform their lives.

Kristine Gasbarre is a celebrity interviewer and a culture and lifestyle contributor to women's print and digital publications. A graduate of John Carroll University in Cleveland and Fordham University in New York City, she holds degrees in psychology and media studies, and she lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Table of Contents

Foreword Eve Ensler ix

Preface xiii

Chapter 1 The Prisoner of Boynton Avenue 1

Chapter 2 Golden Child 34

Chapter 3 Two Birds in a Cage 67

Chapter 4 Inmate #86G0206 127

Chapter 5 Jail Sisters 136

Chapter 6 Agents of Change 147

Chapter 7 Mother Mary and the End of Violence 157

Chapter 8 An Education 171

Chapter 9 Daughters and a Circle of Abuse 178

Chapter 10 Finding Our Voices 188

Chapter 11 Changing Minds, Changing Lives 201

Chapter 12 Women's Search for Meaning 216

Chapter 13 Carrying the Torch 232

Acknowledgments 253

Editorial Reviews

"The treatment of each unique child is the true measure of the state of the world. Donna Hylton was punished for being born female, black, and brilliant—yet she survived to create her own life. A Little Piece of Light will tell you just how fragile—and how indestructible—the human spirit can be."—Gloria Steinem

"Donna Hylton's painful yet liberating memoir will certainly be transformative for many who read her words. As a survivor of sexual abuse and violence—inside and outside prison—she tells the whole truth of her experience, including her deep regret for the moments that she's harmed others and her passionate commitment to co-creating a justice system that acknowledges the little piece of light that shines within us no matter who we are, what we've done, or what has been done to us."—Michelle Alexander, New York Times bestselling author of The New Jim Crow

"Donna Hylton is a light warrior, an inspiration, a survivor, a profound storyteller, and an important teacher for our times."—Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love and Big Magic

"[Donna Hylton's] life stands as a case study illustrating how prison reform efforts and support for women in abusive situations can transform individual lives and society.... Since her release, Hylton has continued her fight for women who have no voice. Her story stands as a harrowing, yet powerful, picture of what's possible when women escape brutality and encounter hope, even in the most unlikely of places."—Associated Press

"Donna has a remarkable capacity for turning pain into power. She's focused, determined, present, thoughtful, passionate, and tireless. She's an invaluable asset to us all."—Rosario Dawson,actress, writer, singer, and activist

"Donna Hylton's A Little Piece of Light reveals her life journey in an exquisitely written memoir. Donna suffered so long before finding a place to belong. It brings into question how America criminalizes the trauma of poor women. This book is a real page-turner that has you sitting on the edge of your seat.... A must read."—Susan Burton, author of Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight Against Incarcerated Women

"I first met Donna Hylton at Riverside Church when she had just been released from prison after serving 27 years, and she is an unforgettable presence. In this riveting book Donna bravely and honestly does the difficult work of reconciling the harm she suffered and the harm she caused, and the reasons both are important. A Little Piece of Light is a gripping account of promises kept or broken, showing the incredible resilience and triumph of women in the face of neglect and violence. Donna Hylton's story is both wrenching and life-affirming, and essential reading to anyone who cares about women, safety and justice."—Piper Kerman, author of Orange Is the New Black

"Donna Hylton proves it's not where you start but where you finish. In her searing narrative, A Little Piece of Light, she recounts spending more than 25 years at New York's Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for kidnapping and second-degree murder. How she got there will rock you to your core."—Essence

"Intimate and disturbing, the book reveals the ways women are silenced and victimized in society, and it also tells the inspiring story of how one woman survived a prison nightmare to go on to help other incarcerated women 'speak out about the violence in their lives.' A wrenching memoir of overcoming seemingly insurmountable abuse and finding fulfillment."—Kirkus Reviews

"Gripping.... [A Little Piece of Light] is a meditation on redemption and learning to love and forgive."—Booklist

"I have witnessed Donna struggle with her difficult past, make tremendous gains in confronting and reconciling with her childhood abuse, take personal responsibility for her past actions, have deep remorse for the consequences of those actions, and commit herself to improving the lives of those around her."—Sister Mary Nerney,psychologist and founding director of STEPS to End Family Violence

"In her emotionally startling memoir, criminal justice reform activist Donna Hylton takes readers from humanity's dark evils to its shining inspirations.... A Little Piece of Light is a big reminder of how people share much more in common than not. Even more importantly, it's a beacon capable of leading others out of the darkness that Hylton endured."—Shelf Awareness

From the Publisher

12/01/2021

Shuffled off to adoptive parents before she turned eight and taken from Jamaica to New York by an icily unappreciative mother and a sexually abusive father (she's his "live-in child mistress"). Impregnated by a man who promised to help her as she's on the verge of entering the prestigious boarding school she will never attend. Subject to a series of violent rapes. Struggling to raise her daughter when a coworker drags her into a mob scheme that leads to a wrongful conviction for kidnapping and second-degree murder. Hylton tells a shattering story, then shows how she put the pieces together in prison as she moved to help others: "My life is officially no longer about survival or doing what I have to do just to get by. … I am now part of something larger." And so she remains after her release following 26-plus years behind bars. Astonishingly, this memoir isn't just a little sliver of light but fully glowing and radiant.

Library Journal

2018-04-03
A criminal justice reform advocate's story about how her personal history of abuse and poor judgment led to incarceration for crimes she did not commit.Hylton was barely 8 when she left her native Jamaica with Americans Daphne and Roy, who promised her a "magical" trip to Disney World. Instead, she found herself in New York, the unwitting adopted daughter of a cold woman and her sexual predator husband. A school guidance counselor later confronted Daphne with Hylton's story of sexual abuse, but Daphne denied it and forced Hylton to apologize. Desperate to flee a dysfunctional family situation, the author applied for a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school. In her confusion, she ran away with Roy's friend Alvin, who offered sanctuary but instead made her pregnant. She spent the remainder of her teens trying to be "a mother, find a job, and straighten out my life" and recovering from a series of rapes. Eventually, she found a stable job as a shop clerk and befriended a woman named Maria, who promised she would help Hylton find money to begin a modeling career. Instead, Maria drew the author into a web of mob intrigue that led to Hylton's wrongful conviction for kidnapping and second-degree murder. Over the next 25 years in prison, she came into contact with women of all backgrounds—including "Long Island Lolita" Amy Fisher—who had also been victims of molestation and abuse. Hylton formed powerful relationships with them and became involved in prison groups promoting pathways beyond hopelessness and despair. Intimate and disturbing, the book reveals the ways women are silenced and victimized in society, and it also tells the inspiring story of how one woman survived a prison nightmare to go on to help other incarcerated women "speak out about the violence in their lives."A wrenching memoir of overcoming seemingly insurmountable abuse and finding fulfillment.

Kirkus Reviews