A Year in a women's prison.
593975
Excellent story about a woman who spent a year in prison for doing something illegal when she was very young bit didn't get arrested until she was much older.
238644
Gloria Bradley opens a window into life in a women's prison. As a correctional nurse, she tells it like it is, and it not something most outsiders even want to hear. If a gal you know is heading down the wrong track, this book may make useful reading to guide that person in a different direction.

Gloria writes in a first person style, almost as if they were notes from a diary, which they very well might be. But it is captivating and I was drawn through the book until I finished. I shared the book with a few friends and they said, in all candor, it was more than they wanted to know about "that other world".  I, for one, am glad she told her story. It is indeed a world few people would want to venture into.

If you want to read a book that is different from the normal pablum we so often encounter, this one would be a worthwhile purchase.
2128452
A very good book considering the subject matter. The details were clear about the atrocities that these poor women endured. It was written in a way that would input what they suffered without making it worse for them.
2131749
Should be read by anyone remotely interested in prisons and prison reform. Sadly, almost every sin (if I can use that word in a non-religious way) committed by prisons against prisoners still exists, nearly 100 years later. O'Hare's optimistic view that reforms would surely take place within a few decades of her writing would crushed if she could come back and see the levels of abuse and degradation that still take place in prisons, all safely hidden behind walls that are seldom opened to outsiders.
4231749
A good picture of life in an American prison and how unfair the justice system is.
3880232
I found the description of life while incarcerated more interesting than the illegal acts precipitating the incarceration. I volunteer in a women's prison and thought the accounting of her period of imprisonment gave great insight into the interactions of the women,  officers and staff. I especially found interesting her observation that it helped the women to know that they had something to offer - helping one another. I volunteer with Grace Place United Methodist Church where the women can participate in a book club, knit outerwear for the homeless, sing in the choir, serve on the Inside Council, send birthday cards to fellow residents, participate in an exercise class and be part of a community. This church offers ways to serve others. That truth in the book about having something to offer is so true - it changes the way we see ourselves in a positive way.
4312557
not you ordinary prison, if you like brutality this is for you.
179547
Piper Kerman's memoir, Orange Is The New Black, chronicles just about a year of doing time at a minimum security women's prison in New England. This book was the basis of the Netflix show of the same name, but it's a very different piece of media. Like any memoir, it's rooted in the author's personal experience. So while many of the characters, and even some of the incidents, will be familiar to those who watch the show, the book is really all about Piper.

Which, for me at least, worked just fine. She doesn't spend much time dwelling on her crime, but rather focuses her attention on what it actually means to be a prisoner. What comes through the most strongly is the dehumanization, going from being a person with autonomy to a number at the mercy of the system. There's virtually no privacy, there are strip searches required for every visit with someone from the outside world, the smallest concessions are subject to the capricious whims of prison officials. While many of the women are due to be released relatively soon, there's no meaningful rehabilitation or real preparation to be re-integrated into the outside world.

It really makes you think about what the point of prison actually is. Kerman's case, in particular, was a crime that was nearly a decade behind her by the time she actually saw the inside of a cell. She had long since ceased to be a threat to society, so protecting the world from her by putting her away clearly wasn't the point. The near-total neglect of actual education or career prep that might enable women to be able to quickly secure a job that might keep them out of the kinds of situations that landed them in prison in the first place shows that rehabilitation isn't what's going on. Our ever-growing prison population shows that deterrence isn't working. So it's just punitive then. And what point does that actually serve? Do most people feel like it's a moral victory to imprison low-level drug offenders, with all the costs that it entails?

Kerman is a good writer, and is more sympathetic than her television portrayal would suggest. She accepts her guilt for her crime, and while she's certainly surprised and upset that her brief stint with crime comes back to haunt her years later, once she's gotten used to the idea, she's mostly regretful about the impact it has on her family and loved ones. She takes the reader inside a world that most of us won't ever experience, and renders it with empathy and humor. This is a solid read, and as long as you're not expecting it to be just like the show, I'd definitely recommend it.
2844583
Reading this book gives a very descriptive view of what treatment the prisoners got from this mentally disturbed individual.
It is the first book that I have read regarding the conduct of female guards at any of the German concentration camps.
435412
Book Description

Enter a historic Nebraskan prison where three women find betrayal, love, and ultimate truth. Jane Prescott is serving a ten-year sentence for murder. Can a broken spirit be healed behind bars? Matron Mamie Dawson feels called to help the wounded women in her charge. Will a guards attentions keep her from her mission? Wardens wife Ellen McKenna has changed her preconceptions about these female prisoners. Will it be enough to save her from a life-or-death situation? Will the cryptic quilt connecting their lives expose the truth of one womans past and ensure a better future for them all?

My Review

This book is the first book of Stephanie Grace Whitsons that I have read and I guarantee you, it will not be the last one either.  She is a GREAT author dealing with Historical fiction.

This book is such a GREAT book.  When I read what the book was about, I wasn't so sure about reading one dealing with a Womens Prison, but my goodness I am glad that I read it.

This book is about Jane Prescott Marquis.  Jane is in a bad marriage with Owen Marquis, where he beats her and just treats her pretty bad.  She is accused of killing Owen, so she is sentenced to 10 years in the Womens Penitentiary in Lincoln, Nebraska since she did it in self defense.  She has a daughter, Rose and she moves with Janes sister to Nebraska City and this sister, Flora makes it known to Rose that her mother is dead.  To me, that was just plain awful.  The story goes on while Jane is in prison and all the hardships that come to the women in the prison.  I don't want to say anything more about this book or I will ruin it for you.  Every woman needs to read this GREAT book.

I loved this book so much, that I couldn't even put it down.  I would suggest everyone read this book.  Thank you so much Stephanie for giving us such a GREAT book.
769892
A good, quick read. Sometimes a little too much focusing on the positive sides of survival in prison, how nurturing others, savoring little things, and keeping away from those with attitudes helps. Illuminates how disrespectful the system and the guards are --it's no wonder many of these women prisoners can't survive on the outside. If they had any self-respect in the first place, the prison makes sure they know they are less than dirt.
4803018
I borrowed this book from my local library.

Sometime in the 1970s, when I was very religious (Jewish orthodox), I contacted the American Consulate in Tijuana, who made arrangements for me to visit the La Mesa prison. I wanted to find out if there were any Jewish inmates who needed help. I drove to the prison from San Diego and remember seeing a very long line of mostly women holding baskets, waiting to be let into the prison. The prison correctional officer allowed me to bypass the line and I entered through the main gate. He pointed to a small building in the center of the courtyard, where I waited inside while they announced me over the PA system. A few minutes passed and then about a dozen inmates entered. Most of them were American-Mexican young men and one was female. They were there because of, mostly, drug charges. (As far as I could tell, there were not any Jewish inmates there; at least no one showed up to see me.)

I spoke with the men and some of them asked me to make telephone calls and notify family members. A few also asked me to mail some letters from San Diego. Towards the end, I spoke with the female inmate, who was a tall, slender, long-hair blonde American. There was something not quite right about her eyes, which appeared glassy and hollow, most likely stemming from drug use. She told me that in order to survive in the prison, she had to become a prostitute.

Before I left, the inmates informed me that had I inadvertently walked through the entrance gate (to the right of the building where I was) into the main prison yard, the inmates would have stripped me of all my clothing, shoes, and money. Thankfully, this did not happen and I was able to leave the prison with no incident(s).

I believe Mother Antonia was at La Mesa prison the same time I visited. Unfortunately, I did not know about her then, and if I did, I certainly would have attempted to meet her.

Her biography is an amazing story and I could not put the book down. What this woman/angel went through, plus her tenacity and unconditional love, I am totally in awe of. How often do people like her appear in history? She was a true saint and a Sherman Tank, because nothing stopped her or stood in her way.

Besides helping thousands of people, she also paved the way to let the Church admit older and divorced women enter the Servants of the Eleventh Hour order. These nuns will be around for a long time, helping those in need. Sister Antonia started out like a little snowball going down a mountain, and the snowball got bigger and bigger as it reached the bottom.

Although Mother Antonia will be missed, she will never be forgotten by the people whose lives she so touched very much...
3917289
These women were prisoners of War.  Food was poor and the captors brutal.  These women merely existed for over four years.  That is a long time to withstand torment, pain, and suffering. This book shows that War is hell.  These women endured and showed great strength and courage. They made a movie about this book called "Silent Cries".  It was very well done and brought this book to life.  This book is exceptional.  I would highly recommend this book to my family and friends.
3638411
An insight into being captured, tortured and held prisoner for over 15 months in a foreign country being ravaged by war. Shows how one mistake can have disastrous effects that are felt by family members thousands of miles away. Amanda's strength in overcoming and remaining strong has to be admired.
1876373
Interesting summary of what was going on to the people imprisoned in the Philippines.  I've been trying to read up on the nurses in the Philippines as my aunt was one of them. The Trials
450024
This book is an unforgettable insight into incarceration in a Federal minimum security "camp" prison setting for women. A debasing mental and physical experience covering a mere one year experience. This makes me wonder what a long 10 years or more sentence in a maximum security men's prison would be like? Not many, if any, would leave sane and be able to fit back into society. Piper makes a compelling statement to not do the crime with this book.
343038
For anyone who clings to clich&eacute;s about our prison system or the 2.3 million Americans behind bars, Amy Wickes-Passmores biographical book, "From Privilege to Prison  Finding Purpose in a Dark Place," written with Kristine Stevens (2014, Resilient Publishing), provides an education on the ad hoc culture that emerges when addicted, mentally handicapped, personality disordered, innocents, criminals, and others are caged in a one-size-fits-all deprived environment.

The book shines light on an inhumane corrections system in which imprisonment is just the beginning of the punishment. Its an eye-opening, compelling read.

Amy Wickes-Passmore references her early difficult years as the source of a simmering vulnerability that precipitated her overuse of prescription drugs and alcohol. She began shoplifting to pay for her addictions and to avoid relying on her husband in a difficult marriage.

From working as a model and enjoying a privileged life, Amy stumbled into the demeaning, debauched God-awful, sick and abusive Franklin County Jail Workhouse in Columbus and then the Ohio prison system.

While Amy admits to a long arrest record relating to her addictions, she was never violent. She was charged with aggravated burglary when a former friend beat her up, then claimed Amy was the aggressor and thief.

Amy eventually pled guilty to this crime she didn't commit for one of many reasons countless others have done so. Incarcerated for four months in a dirty, dangerous facility designed for short stays, Amy took a plea deal to escape the county jail and go to a community-based correctional facility.

Under heavy medication, she made a bad decision and was sentenced to four years in the Ohio Reformatory for Women. Conditions were deplorable, demoralizing, and dangerous. Amy struggled with Crohns disease and belatedly diagnosed bipolar disorder, but nothing was as devastating as having her children delivered by the system into foster care.

Amy was released from prison on January 2, 2011, with new purpose. Shes become an extraordinary advocate for reducing the prison population and developing Stay Out Plans. She is founder and CEO of the nonprofit organization, In the Name of Justice, dedicated to Support and Awareness to Benefit Children and Parents of the Incarcerated.

Amy believes her difficult journey has been Gods plan to bring purpose to her life. With faith matured in a dark place, shes become a force among opinion leaders, a voice for the forgotten.

"From Privilege to Prison" is an inspiring story of redemption and recovery, of prevailing over difficult losses, of finding faith and purpose when all seems lost. The book shines light upon the so-called corrections system in the most incarcerated nation in the world. As such, it is a wake-up call to all Americans who would find the conditions Amy describes as shameful. "From Privilege to Prison" calls upon the nations conscience to reverse destructive policies that are contrary to our foundational beliefs and national character.