"Freedom, Harriet tells me, never existed on the horizon for me and my mother. I didn't hope for it. I didn't treat it as the great dream for her and for me. I knew that as long as I knew my mother, I would just know her in that room."
"Every time she started toddling toward me, the person watching would say, If she touches you, this visit is terminated. The prison had been my home my whole life ... I do think a child is willing to make an institution their home."
In Harriet Clark's debut novel, The Hill, the narrative centers on Suzanna, a child whose mother is serving a life sentence. The story reflects on the emotional impact of incarceration on families, particularly children. Suzanna's relationship with her mother exists solely within prison walls, mirroring Harriet's own experiences visiting her mother, Judith Clark, for nearly 40 years. Judith was sentenced for her role in a robbery that resulted in fatalities, and the novel delves into themes of confinement, familial bonds, and the normalization of prison as a home for children.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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