“Bookin’ in the Big House” chronicles a prison book club and the lessons learned by everyone involved.
Pat Cunningham Devoto had hopes for the women imprisoned at the Montgomery Women’s Facility who participated in her book club. She hoped the members would find respite from daily prison life and valuable knowledge in the books they read.
Instead, Devoto gained knowledge of her own, like how to hold a stone-faced expression while a guard berated her because she brought books — to the book club — and what it’s like to have a wedding while imprisoned. While most of her teachers are now gone, in one way or another, “Bookin’ in the Big House” is Devoto’s remembrance of them and of the place they lived.