After Life by Alice Marie Johnson — Book Review

Alice Marie Johnson made many mistakes. She had an affair with a married man. He was a gambler, and his habits led her into gambling addiction. She lost her job after using company money to pay their gambling debts. When her lover became involved in dealing drugs, she agreed to become “an information mule” receiving phone calls and relaying the information she received. As she puts it,

“…my bad decisions began to compound, and sin began to expand until there was so much of it, the box overflowed.“

Arrested and convicted in 1996 for her involvement in a cocaine trafficking organization, she received life in prison due to the mandatory sentencing laws in effect at the time. In prison, the faith of her youth was revived, and she became an exemplary prisoner, mentoring others, writing Christian plays, and even obtaining ordination as a minister. After years of denied appeals, she was finally pardoned by President Trump in 2018. She had served 21 years for her first-offense, nonviolent crime. Ms. Johnson now advocates for prison reform.

I read this as part of the reading challenge I’ve been working on this year Read With Me. The category is Christian memoirs.

VERDICT: 5 STARS. An inspiring story of the way God works in our lives to redeem and rescue us.

For more memoirs see these posts:

The Minister’s Wife by Karen Stiller — Book Review

No Cure for Being Human by Kate Bowler–Book Review

Fish Out of Water by Eric Metaxas–Book Review