A minimum-security prison sentence..... a tame read.
Perhaps I have watched too many reality TV shows before reading this book and my expectations were too high. Perhaps I should have read the reviews before launching into this book so I knew exactly what I was getting myself into but “My year in a women’s prison” had me thinking lots of drama and action. This book, well not so much. If you want to learn about self-discovery, friendships and the bonds between women in prison, this book is terrific. Piper was only looking for a little adventure and this little adventure ends up costing her, a small trip to prison. She has heard of the countless rumors of what happens in women’s prisons and she wants to avoid as many situations as possible. To avoid trouble, she keeps her eyes down and her mouth shut which places her with the correct crowd at the prison. As she adjusts to prison, Piper has the continued support from her family and friends on the outside as she begins to create a new prison family with her female inmates inside the prison walls. Life becomes routine with jobs, cleaning and exercise to fill most of her days. We get to view the lives of other inmates as Piper interacts with them and the prison officials.
I guess I was thinking more along the lines of the show “Women Behind Bars” or one of the many other shows that portrays life behind prison walls when I picked this book up at the library. This book is really tame compared to the shows I see on TV. I do realize that TV sells drama but the book had no real drama except for some tender moments which TV does not portray. Don’t get me wrong this book was good but it was not what I had expected, by about 360 degrees. I realize it is minimum security but I was expecting something. This is about a woman, Piper who learned how to stay away from trouble in prison. She met some interesting people who each led different lives but ended up in the same place. What I found most interesting is the classes for prisoners being released. What are the resources that are available for them to succeed? Again, you have to have the right support or you will have repeat offenders as they feel their prison family is all they have. Piper made some good points in her book and she’s lucky she didn’t have any really bad memories of her life inside.
