The Many Lives of Mama Love. A memoir of lying, stealing, writing and healing.

This story will become a blockbuster movie or a must-watch Netflix series. My guest today is NY Times Best Selling author Lara Love Hardin, and her book The Many Lives of Mamma Love is her story. From the worst beginnings, and then addiction, and then theft and jail, is someone who ends up breaking bread with Oprah, meditating with the Dalai Lama, writing Desmond Tutu's book, and becoming a successful CEO.

Picture a million-dollar home in a quiet cul-de-sac, the last place you'd expect to find a gripping tale of deception, addiction, and redemption. Yet, within these walls, Lara Love Hardin concealed a shadowy secret, funding her drug addiction through an intricate web of stolen credit cards from unsuspecting neighbours.

Lara's harrowing descent into addiction led her to a place no one could have predicted – behind bars and estranged from her children—where she became inmate S32179. Inside the concrete confines of the jail, a peculiar power structure emerges, a curious blend of adolescent sleepover dynamics and the raw brutality depicted in Lord of the Flies.

Upon her release, Lara's journey of reinvention takes an unexpected turn as she fights bureaucracy to reclaim her children while embarking on a remarkable journey that brings her face-to-face and pen to paper with some of the most influential people on the planet. Yet, the shadow of her past persists, a constant reminder that redemption is a battle against shame.

Amy Deacon, the founder and CEO of Toronto Wellness Counselling, returns to Chatter that Matters to discuss the difficult road back for addicts.

To buy Lara Love Hardin's book - The Many Lives of Mama Love: https://www.amazon.com/Many-Lives-Mama-Love-Stealing/dp/B0BWSD2CG4

To connect with Amy Deacon: https://www.torontowellnesscounselling.com/