Around the River Bend began with a sympathy card Shalanda Thompson mailed to a childhood friend at Riverbend prison in Nashville.

Shalanda is a Middle Tennessee author, and her memoir, Around the River Bend: A Memoir of Love During Lockup, comes out October 24, 2026, in paperback, hardcover and Kindle. It tells the story of loving her husband, Edward, through the last seven years of his sentence.

You'll hear what weekend visiting hours and daily lunchtime phone calls are really like for the family on the outside, why she kept the relationship hidden from almost everyone, and how Edward proposed on one knee in front of a full visitation room. Shalanda also shares how more than 30 letters of support helped bring him home on parole in 2019, why she finally wrote the book, and why she hopes to start a support group for families who love someone behind bars.

Official site: https://aroundtheriverbend.com
Around the River Bend on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aroundthe.riverbend
Around the River Bend on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aroundtheriverbendmemior
Around the River Bend on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@around.the.riverb
Launch party and book signing registration (October 24, 2026, Ford Ice Center, Antioch): https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/iUr6iGxaM1

Full transcript and show notes: https://youmatternashville.com/episodes/around-the-river-bend-shalanda-thompson

Around the River Bend, Shalanda Thompson, nashville podcast, middle tennessee nonprofits, You Matter Nashville, Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, families of incarcerated people, memoir, reentry, Nashville author

****************************************

🎬 WATCH THE VIDEO
Watch all episodes on our YouTube Channel
@YouMatterNashville

💡 NOMINATE A GUEST
Know someone making an impact in the Middle Tennessee area?
Nominate Them Here

🌐 FOLLOW US
Facebook: @youmatternashville
Instagram: @youmatternashville
TikTok: @youmatternashville