Innocent is a memoir about one woman's experience as a mother on welfare in the 1960s through 1980s. Read by the author, this audiobook comes across a bit flat in affect. However, I still found her story powerful and listened attentively to the end.

Morrison came from a wealthy family in Baltimore, Maryland. Desperate to escape the privilege and racism of her upbringing, she became pregnant young and moved away. When she had children with a less than ideal partner, Morrison chose to be a single mother and thus turned to social welfare programs as a means to survive.

Morrison had many layers of privilege which are somewhat acknowledged in this memoir. I think she does a good job of sticking to what is her story to tell and staying general about what is not her lived experience. I think this book runs a bit too long, but it did open my eyes to how much social welfare has declined in the last few generations and how critical it is for the good of children, families, and communities.

Thank you for an advance copy of this memoir about a woman who, despite her background and family, ends up on welfare as a single mom. It works to fight the idea of what "kind" of person is on welfare, and how anyone can be a few bad mistakes away from that situation. This memoir was very informative and touching...I appreciated her brutal honesty in telling her story.

Barbara Morrison, who writes under the name B. Morrison, is an engineer, poet, writer, publisher, freelance editor, teacher, and dancer. Morrison was once a welfare mother, and she shares that difficult experience in this book.

*****

Growing up in the upper-class enclave of Roland Park, Maryland in the 1950s and 1960s, Barbara Morrison frequently heard her conservative parents talk about 'worthless' people on welfare. Barbara's father was a doctor; her mother was a stay-at-home-mom; and Barbara was the second of six children. The family was well-off, but Barbara was a sad and lonely child; she felt disliked by her parents and distant from her siblings.

According to Barbara, her mother - who'd been a nurse - was an unhappy housewife and mother who often sported bruises inflicted by her husband. And Barbara's father, well-respected professionally, was cold at home, especially to Barbara. Later on, Barbara's father was glad to pay for his sons' expensive university educations, but was much less generous to Barbara, who was 'only a woman.' In any case, Barbara attended college in Maryland and Massachusetts, and graduated with a degree in English from Clark University in Worster.

Growing up in a dysfunctional household, it's perhaps not surprising that Barbara rebelled. Barbara married a hippie named Lewis, who lived in a flowered school bus and had custody of his 4-year-old son Kevin. Lewis was the exact antithesis of an 'acceptable spouse' to Barbara's parents, who became increasingly estranged from their daughter. In fact, Barbara wasn't even welcome to visit Roland Park, because she might 'infect' her younger siblings.

Meanwhile, Barbara and Lewis lived hand-to-mouth in Worster, Massachusetts, and were thrown into dire straits when their son Jeremy was born. Constant arguments ensued, and when Barbara got pregnant again, Lewis left her. Barbara was almost penniless, and Lewis threatened to sue for custody if Barbara tried to get child support. Though the idea of public assistance was anathema to Barbara, she HAD to apply for welfare. In Barbara's words, "I may not look like what you would expect when you think of a welfare mother, but indeed I was on welfare. When I was 24, I was a very scared young woman. I had been abandoned by my husband and disowned by my parents. I had a baby, and I was pregnant again. I had no money and I had no job. So I had a lot of very serious decisions to make." Barbara's mantra was "The kids come first. The kids come first. Every decision had to be based on what was right for my children, Jeremy and this new baby."

Luckily, Barbara had an artist friend named Jill, a mother with two children who was also on welfare. Jill had experience navigating the labyrinthine - and somewhat obstructionist - welfare system, and provided valuable advice to other women. Barbara was VERY anxious about getting public assistance. She observes, "I had seen what it was like for my friend Jill. In return for food stamps and barely enough cash to pay rent on the cheapest apartment with the most minimal utilities, she was subject to surprise inspections from social workers who were entitled to criticize every aspect of her life. When she handed over food stamps at the 'Stop and Shop', the other shoppers inspected the contents of her cart, ready to condemn anything 'frivolous.' She often had to fight to keep her meager allotment from being cut at some administrator's whims, dependent on an office where social workers were told to act as if money were coming out of their own pockets." Barbara emphasizes that both she and Jill wanted to work, but it was impossible with children, because childcare would eat up their salaries.

Barbara meticulously describes her welfare experience, depicting her day to day activities in great detail (too much detail at times). In any event, Barbara's tale would be instructive to people on public assistance. Barbara, Jill and several other women formed a kind of commune. The women got apartments close together, traded childcare services, worked at the local food bank, planted a vegetable garden in an empty lot, brought their children together to play, and generally assisted each other in every possible way. Still, life was VERY HARD.

It's sad to read about Barbara's travails. She had to ration her food stamps, and her family often lived on rice and beans, with potatoes thrown in once a week; fresh fruits, like bananas, were a luxury she couldn't afford; she often ran out of money between welfare checks; she couldn't afford lotion for her chapped hands; she could hardly afford to purchase her children clothes at Goodwill; she had to live in apartments that were fire hazards; she was required to use allotment vouchers for some household goods, which she wasn't permitted to choose for herself; she had trouble with both landlords and welfare administrators, and so on. Both Barbara and Jill eventually managed to get small grants through the 'Comprehensive Education and Training Act' (which no longer exists) to help them prepare for jobs. Barbara taught creative writing in prisons and elsewhere, and took education classes when she could.

Barbara even managed to put some joy into her life by joining a Morris Dance group, and she writes a lot about this, as well as her love of writing, and the happiness engendered by her children, Jeremy and Justin.

Barbara eventually pulled herself up by her bootstraps and reconciled with her parents. In Barbara's words, "I did rejoin the work force after a few years as we all did because the average time on welfare has always been less than two years. And so after a few years when I was working again, I didn't tell anyone I had been on welfare. I felt the stigma too strongly, so I listened to my coworkers as they complained about greedy welfare moms ripping off the system, and I didn't want to say, as I could have, that welfare worked for me and the people I knew exactly the way it was supposed to. It kept us and the children alive during this little bit of time when we could not work."

Barbara believes the current welfare system is even less supportive than the program in the 1970s, when she participated. Barbara notes that the 'Welfare Reform Act' reduced the amount of time you could be, by law, on welfare. Additionally, a lot of the training programs that helped Barbara train for a job and get the experience she needed for a job, are not around anymore, though there are some other job acts. Barbara observes, "People who are poor are increasingly being criminalized, and that's why I called the book 'Innocent', because not only was I very naive, I was very young, but I was made to feel like a criminal." This book was published in two waves. A written edition came out in 2011, and an audiobook - with additional material - was issued in 2022.

I sympathize with mothers who are struggling financially, but I don't agree with their refusal to go after deadbeat fathers. Barbara gives various justifications for letting her shirker husband Lewis get away Scot-free, but (in my view) Lewis should have been taken to court, to prod him into providing some support Jeremy and Justin.

It's clear that impoverished people need welfare, and it's also clear that welfare recipients are often seen as slackers by other folks. Barbara's book doesn't address 'welfare fathers' but it might be interesting to hear some of their stories as well.

I found Barbara Morrison's narrative to be extremely enlightening, and I'd encourage welfare naysayers to read the book.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author, who speaks very slowly and clearly.

Thanks to Netgalley, B. Morrison, and Cottey House Press for a copy of the audiobook.

This book speaks on the reality that many people are going through and is eye opening as to how fast it can happen to someone. Great memoir overall.

this was such a beautiful and inspiring memoir. growing up in a wealthy family b morrison had always looked down on people on welfare. after a failed marriage and left her a single mother and then disowned by her family she found herself in a very tough place. after accepting the help from welfare we are taken through her struggles as she tries to better herself for her family and get off of welfare. this was a truly powerful story of how women and the community can come together to help each other when they have little to give themselves.

It's always hard to rate memoirs, since it feels like you're judging someone's life. I really enjoy audiobook memoirs narrated by the author, which Innocent was.

This was rather eye-opening. The amount of hate people get for needing help is absolutely appalling. It seems like an important story to tell, since I think a lot of people make negative assumptions about people on welfare, food stamps, etc. that are mostly made out of ignorance.

I just thought the story was a little drawn out. Over 13 hours for only a 342 page book seems pretty long. I ended up having to speed it up a lot (2.5x by the end) to not lose interest.

Thank you NetGalley for the ALC.

Most importantly, a huge thank you to NetGalley, B. Morrison and Cottey House Press for providing me with a copy of this publication in exchange for an honest review.

"No matter how isolated I was, sitting there in the artificial chill, I could not believe that I had even for a moment thought that the only problem with the people who lived on this street was laziness. It wasn't very long ago that I too sat on the front stoop, no job to go to, no money in my pocket, staring at the sidewalk." -B. Morrison, 'Innocent: Confessions of a Welfare Mother'

I grew up in a very upper middle class family and never wanted/needed for anything. But my parents instilled in me from an early age "The Golden Rule" or "treat others as you'd like to be treated". And I've done my very best to live that for the past 37 years. I've had friends from every walk of life. But one in particular stuck out in my mind while I was listening to Ms. Morrison narrate her own story. This friend of mine had a very young daughter and I was rarely separated from either of them. So I witnessed firsthand how women and children on welfare are treated and talked to so very differently than those of the "more acceptable" middle class. All too regularly was she gawked at, scoffed at, written off as being "lazy". It even made my own face burn at these times when experienced in a very public setting.

Ms. Morrison does a phenomenal job of narrating her entire experience, good and bad, beautiful and ugly while developing such empathy in her audience. 4 stars for this story of triumph over the odds, all due to her own resourcefulness, hunger for knowledge and unparalleled resilience.

First, I would like to thank Cottey House Press, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Audiobooks, Barbara Morrison, and NetGalley for allowing me to preview this title in its audiobook form.

As always, reviewing a memoir is tricky bc one cannot, ethically, critique another person's choices, feelings, and experiences. I will do my best to honor that here.

This book is a story of someone who grew up in a stable, middle class family in the 60s, but chose to follow her heart instead of the path laid out for her by her parents. That path left her with 2 small children and a ex-husband that abandoned her. Because of her lack of work experience, cost of rent, lack of affordable child care, and limited access to health care, she chose to go on welfare. This book talks about her struggles, prejudices, and obstacles to both staying on and getting off welfare. While a majority of this book takes place in the 70s, the struggles that are described are quite relevant today.

I listened to this on audiobook and it was narrated by the author. This very much felt like she was reading from a book. Any emotion was not blatantly expressed, but more simply read. Also, she put very little effort into using other voices when quoting dialog from another person. I felt like I was being read to, and not necessarily spoken to.

What always strikes me about books such as these is that they are often consumed by the people that don't necessarily need to hear the information. In this instance, I have a heart for the poor, marginalized, stigmatized, and often overlooked populations. For me, this book was "preaching to the choir." For me, this book just strengthened my resolve in wanting to help welfare mothers do their best. However, it is those people that still view welfare recipients as "lazy" or "working the system" that should read this book. I wish the author could have added a section on how to help those people who are on public assistance, but this was her story, not necessarily a lesson in humanity.

Thanks to NetGalley and Cottey House Press for the Audio ARC!

B Morrison does a great job in this moving memoir of painting a vivid picture of her childhood and the struggles she recognized then, as well as the ones she only sees now, in hindsight. As with many memoirs, the listening experience is greatly enhanced by the author's narration, which gives a true first-person perspective to the stories related.

"Innocent: Confessions of a Welfare Mother" by B. Morrison is a powerful memoir that challenges stereotypes about welfare recipients. The author's journey from a middle-class background to relying on welfare resonates deeply with my own childhood experiences.

Morrison's vivid descriptions of long waits at government offices and the stigma associated with public assistance mirror my own memories. I recall spending hours in welfare offices with my mother and feeling the weight of judgmental glances at the grocery store when using food stamps.

What makes this book particularly poignant is its honest portrayal of welfare recipients' determination to improve their lives. Like Morrison, my mother and our circle of friends were committed to bettering themselves and becoming self-sufficient. This book accurately reflects the reality I lived: a childhood where I never went hungry or lacked love, but felt different due to other's perceptions.

Morrison's narrative provides valuable insight into the challenges my mother must have faced. It echoes the truth of my experience and honors the hard work and resilience of single parents like my mother, who worked tirelessly to earn a college degree and eventually start her career.

This memoir is not just a personal account; it's a testament to the importance of compassion and understanding in our society. It reminds us that government assistance can be a crucial lifeline for families in need, enabling them to overcome temporary hardships—that most everyone is vulnerable to—and achieve independence. Morrison's story, intertwined with my own, reinforces the need to challenge stereotypes and recognize the human dignity of all individuals, regardless of their economic circumstances.

I listened to this as an audiobook.
I must admit that I highly doubt I would ever find this gem of a book if I hadn't received it through NetGalley for a review, and I am so glad that I did.

This book is about the topic implied—a young mother going on welfare and the struggles she encounters. I won't give up the details - you just have to read this one.

First of all, I really like the writing style, and the author narrates the audiobook beautifully. I often struggle with audiobooks, but that was not the case here.

There are so many things woven into this one that I feel at a loss for words to describe how powerful of an impression this book left me with.

It describes a fight about a prejudiced system, not only welfare, but also the system that is prejudiced against women, people of color, and poor people. It opened my eyes to see people more humanely. I consider myself very open-minded but the author made me check my preconceptions entirely. Thank you for that wonderful gift, Miss Morrison.

There are a lot of strong women in this book and I am in great awe of them.
I am so glad I got to read this brilliant book.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Cottey House Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. This is a memoir by Barbara Morrison who was of the view that someone being on Welfare was frowned upon and looked down on. So when Barb found herself disowned by her family, as a mother of 2 boys and her husband leaving her, she didn't know what to do. It was at this time when she had no other choice but to apply for welfare in order to help her boys and herself survive. This memoir was beautifully written and it brought back memories of when my parents divorced and my mother was left to raise 3 teenage girls on her own with no help at all and she too had to go on welfare until she got a little bit ahead with her new job. Enjoy!!!!

Thank you, NetGalley and Cottey House Press | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Audiobooks for this audiobook for review. This is a powerful memoir about growing up with wealth and having your circumstances and views change. Morrison grew up with the view that poverty and welfare were laziness and a choice, but when she got pregnant and her marriage didn’t work out and her parents refused to help her out as they did not approve of her choices, she was forced to change her views on life when she became one of those people who needed assistance. People don’t choose poverty and this memoir shows that single parenting in the 1970’s was hard and it’s even harder now. No one is immune to poverty.

I enjoyed listening to this memoir. Life doesn't always go how we expect it to go. What do we do then? How do we survive? We make choices, and sometimes those force us to face prejudices we once held. But we survive, we adapt, we find our way.

The author's resilience, and ability to adapt, adjust, and survive, was a good reminder for myself, as a newly single mother, that there's always a way. Others have been through this. Solidarity.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This personal memoir of single parenthood and poverty in the 1970s clearly shows how hard work and intelligence are meager weapons against cycles of poverty and the stigma that comes with it

What an incredible memoir. I have never be one to learn the ends and outs of welfare so learning about it through this incredible story was very eye opening. I enjoyed hearing how the author landed in this position and how she found her way even with the odds stacked against her. The system is so broken, but she made the best of it and fought back when needed. Thank you for allowing me to read this story and for the lessons it provided. Never again will I judge a mom who is simply just trying to survive for her children.

"Innocent" by B. Morrison is a memoir that was released over a decade ago in print but is just being released on audio and is read by the author. I love reading memoirs and especially love listening to them on audio when they are read by the author and this is no exception! Her voice is SO soothing! One thing I don't like is rating someone's life's work, but nevertheless, here we are.

For me, this read (or flowed) more like a piece of women's fiction with an arc of politics since the theme was about the system of welfare. If you like to really get to know characters and invest in them no matter how slow the story goes, this is an excellent read (listen) because it's beautifully written/told! For me, this did drag in the middle but otherwise this would have been a 4-star read for me. *I received a complimentary audio copy from the author/publishing company via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

This was an eye-opening insight into the struggles people, particularly mothers with young children, face in the US. Welfare is a vital tool to help when absolutely needed but this book really showed how it starts a cycle and can be very hard if not impossible to get off of. It really made me look at the things I have and take for granted, like the simple luxury of being able to afford such basic things as trash bags and hand lotion. Well-written first-hand account!

This audiobook written and narrated by B.Morrison shares how the welfare system was brought into place in the 70s in the USA. A beautifully adapted extract of her life, friends, and family included.

Her battle with acceptance of the situation she found herself in is one I'm sure many people can relate to. These days there is still a stigma attached to people who are on welfare / benefits that some feel restricted as if they are not an equal part of society and for most this is not a choice but often a means to an end. Sadly, we do have some who may take advantage of such ways, which makes this read for anyone who has never had personal experience in this area rather informative from a first-hand experience. This is a mother doing her best to survive and raise her children.

This was well narrated and very easy to listen to, not overly long, nor was it extremely political, but it explained the dynamics of family life, the struggles, and also triumphs experienced. Just as stated, being on welfare doesn't mean you should have to live in poverty, nor does it mean this is forever it is simply a for now that this is the situation. It really is something to be greatful for in times of need for those who have to go down this path but never loose hope that this is your forever because like B.Morrison you can face various issues and still come back from the bottom and rise again!

With thanks to Netgalley & Cottey House Press for this ARC.

I love to read/listen to memoirs but I don't like to review them. This is an older book but it is just coming out in audio. It reminded me of Stephanie Land's memoir, Maid. I'm glad that I read this book. I think reading memoirs helps to understand why people are the way they are. The author does a good job of describing her life on welfare.

It was heartbreaking to hear her talk about how people would comment when they would see she was using food stamps. She also talked about employers who would not hire her because she was on welfare. Lots of government programs are messed up but I think this author is an example of how the welfare system is meant to work.

One thing that bothered me about this book is that it was never really said why her parents didn't like her as much as their other children. Maybe I just missed it. I know that she mentioned that she looked different than the rest of them and eluded to her not being her father's child but I did not here that confirmed.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audio arc in exchange for my honest review.