A Little Piece of Light

By: Donna Hylton, Kristine Gasbarre

Narrated by: Donna Hylton

Length: 7 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's Summary

Today, Donna Hylton is a groundbreaking advocate for criminal justice reform - she was a featured speaker at the 2017 Women's March on Washington, and she works hand-in-hand with other influential voices such as Eve Ensler, Michelle Alexander (The New Jim Crow), and Rosario Dawson to ensure prison safety and to end mass incarceration in the US. In fact, Dawson has signed on to play Hylton in a movie that's in development now. 

But in 1986, Hylton experienced prison from the inside when she was sentenced to 25 years-to-life for kidnapping and second-degree murder. Like so many women before her and so many women yet to come, her life had been a nightmare of abuse that left her feeling alone and convinced of her worthlessness. With her sentencing, it seemed that Donna had reached the end - at age 19, due to her own mistakes and bad choices, her life was over. 

But behind the bars of Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, alongside this generation's most infamous female criminals, Donna learned to fight - and then, to thrive. For the first time in her life, she realized that she was not alone in the abuse and misogyny that she experienced; as she bonded with her new sisters, she discovered that her pain was not an anomaly, but a commonality among women from all walks of life.

It's a reality that she has since vowed to change. Since her release in 2012, Donna has emerged as a leading advocate for criminal justice reform and women's rights who speaks with 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 are unable to speak for themselves because they've been silenced, imprisoned, or killed. 

©2018 Donna Hylton and Kristine Gasbarre (P)2018 Hachette Audio

Critic Reviews

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

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

"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)

incredibly powerful and dangeringly honest

this book is a must read. I applaud the author for her bravery, honesty and her heart to transform the world we live in. Thank you for challenging us all to do the same.

Amazing and heartbreaking

Thank you for sharing your journey with us. It was so difficult yet so empowering with all you’ve been through. I find myself parallel in many areas of the abuse and the cycle of abuse as well. I hope you continue making impact in the world as you have on me by sharing your story. What a beautiful heart and soul you have. I was honored to read your heartbreaking but uplifting journey.

This can be the piece of art that makes you aware.

Prepare yourself to experience a range of emotions from pain, sadness, to inspiration. This book takes you on a journey of Donna's suffering and growth. If you are questioning prison reform, gender responsive initiatives or any other change to the approach of trauma, you need to listen. This story sheds light to these problems that so many of us have been blessed to not experience.