Perspective

The perspective in Couldn't Keep it to Myself changes in every chapter. Each author has a different story and a different way of telling it.

Wally Lamb's chapter is written in the first person, as are all but one of the subsequent chapters. Dale Griffith also writes her concluding chapter in first person. Wally and Dale are advocates for the women in prison, and they want to tell firsthand their experiences with the prisoners and how the women have inspired them.

For at least one prisoner, the truth is too hard to tell in first person. Michelle Jessamy chooses autobiographical fiction. She writes the story as a fiction piece in the third person from the perspective of the main character. This tool of distancing herself slightly from the truth of her real life makes it easier for Michelle to tell what really happened. She is protected behind a...