The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls

***This excerpt is from an advance uncorrected copy proof***

Copyright © 2018 Anissa Gray

Althea

You do a lot of thinking in jail. Especially when you re locked in the box that s your cell. Mine is about as big as the walk-in closet I had back at home, but in place of leather bags and slingbacks and racks of clothes, I ve got bunk beds, a stainless-steel sink-and-toilet combo, and a compact, padlocked cabinet. The cabinet s where you keep your valuables, like family pictures, commissary, and letters, including the one from your daughter that s not addressed to you. The letter that, truth be told, you just can t bring yourself to read, so you ve got it tucked inside the Bible that belonged to your dead mother.

The Bible s the one thing you read religiously, but not for scripture. You read it for the notes written in the margins. Then, when it s lights out and you can t read anymore, you lock the Bible up in the cabinet and crawl in your bunk. The top bunk, which you re still scared of falling out of. You d still be in the bottom bunk, if it was up to you, but your new crazy-quiet cellmate asked for that bunk in a way that made you feel like she might kill you as you slept on it, if you said no.

Now you lie here, wide awake, with the compact cabinet across the way and the sink-and-toilet combo near the foot of the bed, thinking and remembering because that s all you ve got here in the dark when sleep won t come. And it hardly ever comes. I m usually up thinking about getting out or what it was like before I came in or why I did what I did and how what I did compares to the next woman s crime.

It s always me versus Inmate X: I did this, but at least I didn t do that.

I used to meet with the chaplain, somebody who s seen everything. We d sit in a little room that had a view to the outside, with him in his metal chair, black shirted, white collared, but casual in jeans. The type who probably plays guitar to youth

Anissa Gray is a Senior Editor at CNN Worldwide and a contributor to Emmy and DuPont-Columbia award-winning coverage of some of the most consequential stories of our time. She began her career at Reuters as a reporter, based in New York, covering business news and international finance. Born in St. Joseph, Michigan, Gray studied English and American literature at New York University. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her wife.

"The inequities of the justice system, the fortitude of women of color, and the bittersweet struggle to connect are rendered ravishly in this bighearted novel."  Oprah Magazine

"Gray's nuanced, lyrical debut is a moving examination of the ties that bind and nearly as often bless." People

[An] intimate family saga sure to appeal to fans of Tayari Jones and Celeste Ng. Entertainment Weekly

"Masterful debut...a poetically written story. Delia Owens, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Where the Crawdads Sing

I was immediately taken by the power and honesty of Anissa Gray s voice. She is a writer to watch, and this debut is not to be missed!
Terry McMillan, New York Times bestselling author of I Almost Forgot About You and Waiting to Exhale

If you enjoyed An American Marriage, read The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls...an absorbing commentary on love, family and forgiveness. The Washington Post  
 
As in Tayari Jones s best-selling An American Marriage, Gray uses imprisonment as the backdrop for a disarmingly compelling story that skirts easy answers and sentimentality. Conversational in tone and difficult in subject, Care and Feeding tells not just an American story but several important ones. Vogue
 
Gray s absorbing novel is about family and the things we hunger for. Real Simple
 
Anissa Gray s debut is heralded as The Mothers meets An American Marriage. If that s not enough to sell you on this stunning novel about family and relationships, we don t know what will. HelloGiggles
 
[A] stark, emotional story you don't want to miss. Bustle 
 
A trio of sisters navigate the tricky waters of forgiveness in Gray s heartfelt, beautifully written debut...Get an extra copy for your best friend or your own