Tanglewire: A Women's Prison Novel

Tanglewire, the tragic story of a murder, is Shakespeare's Othello, updated to the 1990's and reenacted behind the walls of a woman's penitentiary. Warden Coleman propels the plot as she assumes her office at Danbury Correctional Institution. She is determined to uncover acts of "rape"--any sexual activity between guards and inmates. At the center is Iris, a former defense lawyer, beloved and respected by the inmates. No one suspects the covert and lethal role she is playing. Ottilla, a mixed race, transgender Othello, is a former gang affiliate. She was an assassin but a religious experience has changed her life and she enters the penitentiary, a devout Christian. Desiree was once a small-town prom queen but a disastrous passion drew her into the underworld. She is fascinated with Ottilla's story and teases out tales of drug dealing, gangland assignations, and sexual dysphoria. Yet throughout their growing intimacy, Desiree keeps a secret. It's a secret that has pulled her into the warden's embrace and it's a secret that leads to her violent death.