Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I received this courtesy advance reader copy of  Set Me Free, The Story of How Shakespeare Saved a Life, by Salvatore Striano from Net Galley. In return, I supplied my unpaid, unbiased review of this book. 

Prison memoirs are not abundant.  A prison memoir which channels the ghost of Shakespeare while addressing misery, contrition, and redemption is one of a kind. From that unique perspective, the author captures the reader’s attention and ultimately, sympathy. And explains how Shakespeare saved a life.

Essentially, this is a story of penance, while refusing a future to allow the future be defined by mistakes. Salvatore Striano, known as Sasa,  takes us through his prison experience, with enough detail to know he was a criminal “bad character” from about age 14. This path led to a life of substantial crime, and the eventual capture, conviction and sentencing. His writing about prison life reveals the stark reality of loneliness, fear, and insatiable craving for freedom.

At his lowest point, he is persuaded to participate in a theatre troupe and sees it as a means to have more mobility within the confines of the maximum security wing where he resides. The slow awakening of his finer instincts, mainly his passion for Shakespeare, his desire to learn and to grow where and how he can is inspiring to read. The isolation of prison evolves into a community, and he transitions from a lone figure to a leader of this community. Salvatore Striano has written his heart onto the page, and shared his inner struggles effectively. Not only has he transformed his own life, but offers to readers the story of how he struggled and succeeded.

Opinion

This book was originally published in the author’s native Italian. Translated by Brigid Maher, the narrative is rich and descriptive.  Each chapter opens with a reference to a line from a Shakespeare play. Some of these were easily related to the events of the chapter, while some were not immediately. After reading this I feel compelled to learn Italian, and to reread Shakespeare. Set free from prison by a pardon, Salvatore Striano is now a well known figure in the Italian arts.

 

Shakespeare

This blog post is actually going up on the anniversary of BOTH Shakespeare’s birth AND death. Well, technically. Shakespeare’s baptismal date is known to be April 26, 1564, and his birth date is generally presumed to be April 23. The Globe Theatre in London recognizes the date, so that’s good enough for me. And coincidentally, he died on April 23, 1616. But again, records do not confirm this date. His burial date is documented as April 25, so historians deduce that his death occurred on April 23.