This Wasn’t Supposed to Be My Story
Defying Expectations, Living My Truth
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 Months Free + £10 Audible voucher
This Wasn’t Supposed to Be My Story
Buy Now for £13.66
-
Narrated by:
-
Sherrice Williams
-
By:
-
Dr. Vanda Seward
This Wasn’t Supposed to Be My Story is a powerful memoir of resilience, reinvention, and truth-telling by Dr. Vanda Seward. Becoming a mother at sixteen, dropping out of high school, and growing up in public housing were supposed to define—and limit—her future. Instead, they became the foundation of a life lived on her own terms.
With raw honesty, Seward traces her journey from the Bronx to a groundbreaking career inside New York State’s criminal justice system, offering a rare insider perspective shaped by lived experience. She writes candidly about teen motherhood, street life, love and loss, working behind prison walls, and marrying a man who was incarcerated—while ultimately earning a GED, multiple degrees, and a PhD.
Threaded throughout is her mantra, “I don’t give a damn,” not as defiance, but as clarity and self-preservation. This memoir challenges stereotypes, exposes the human cost of mass incarceration, and affirms that destiny is not dictated by circumstance—but reclaimed through courage, education, and truth.
©2026 Vanda Seward (P)2026 Vanda Seward