Rave Reviews

Finalist, Autobiography/Memoir, Midwest Independent Publishers Association (MIPA), 2007

Book reviewer Mary Ann Grossmann picked Willow in a Storm for her list of “21 Page-turners by Big-time Minnesota Authors” in the St. Paul Pioneer Press Arts section, September 9, 2007

“Taylor somberly informs his readers that ‘[m]ost men do not survive four decades of incarceration,’ a foreboding revelation that sets the stage for this riveting life story. That Taylor eventually finds peace, going so far as to ‘thank God for confinement because it gave me time to change,’ speaks to the enormous heart of this honest, affecting account.”

— Publishers Weekly, September 2007

"A compelling tale of crime, punishment, and redemption, Taylors raw memoir exposes both the terrible injustices of an inhumane prison system and the power love can wield in its midst."

— Minneapolis Observer Quarterly, September 2007

“I was stunned by Willow in a Storm. It is the story of one man’s long life, and his truly spiritual journey into the abyss of our country’s penal system, and miraculously, almost mythically, his survival and return to society. With the assistance of his wife, James Peter Taylor, now approaching his eightieth year, tells this harrowing and inspiring story with class, directness, and honesty.”

— Sister Helen Prejean, anti-death penalty activist 

& author of Dead Man Walking

“The first-person account of sexual abuse behind bars in Willow in a Storm is revealing and powerful. Kathleen Murphy-Taylor and Jim Taylor deal with this difficult subject in a way that is frank, unsentimental and honest. The story at the heart of Willow in a Storm is compelling—a window onto a world that many people have never considered.”

— Laura Stemple, former Executive Director, Stop Prison Rape

“In this fascinating book we read of a gifted person who tragically took a wrong path. We witness prison brutality and the painful fear, anger and alienation of prisoners, which usually hardens rather than reforms. Then we read of the transformation that can come about, even in dire circumstances, when we put our trust in God and the hope of reconciliation with a community. I was amazed to read about the people who helped Jim Taylor find his way back to that good-hearted, gifted person he began as. It inspires the reader to be shown what the unconditional love of another person can do.”

— Al Quie, former Governor of Minnesota

"An intriguing look at prison life from the inside, Willow in a Storm will compel readers to examine long-held beliefs about imprisonment and those whom we have separated from society. I recommend it to my students and to anyone interested in learning more about life on the inside."

- Frank Schmalleger, Professor Emeritus, University of NC, 

Executive Director of the Justice Research Association, 

and author of Criminal Law Today

"My goodness, what an engrossing read! Having served on the South Carolina Parole Board for 19 years, I sure could identify with Willow in a Storm. I tried to imagine myself with Jim Taylor’s Parole Board in the early 1980s, and decide if I would vote for parole. A difficult decision, but I would have voted yes. Not after his first appearance before the board perhaps, but definitely after the second."

- Rhett Jackson, Past President, ABA

"As compelling as Les Misérables, Jim Taylor’s story needs to be read by anyone interested in understanding the origins of one man’s criminal behavior as well as his successful struggle to survive the great darkness that is the US penal system."

Bill Ronan, MS, psychotherapis