Book Review of this gritty, almost raw, brutally honest, account of life in a UK women's prison
#BreakfastAtBronzefield @SophieCBooks
"HMP Bronzefield, the UK's largest women's prison. What really goes on behind locked cell doors... "
Synopsis
HMP Bronzefield, the UK's largest women's prison: notorious for bent screws and drugs: But what's the truth behind the headlines?
Forced into signing an NDA when she arrived there on remand, former public schoolgirl Sophie risked extra time on her sentence by documenting her experiences of life inside.
Backed up by recent research and statistics, Breakfast at Bronzefield offers a powerful glimpse into a world few see: riots; unethical medical prescribing; and prison barons - key figures behind prostitution and drug-smuggling.
In a world where anything goes and being rehabilitated simply means saying 'sorry' right up until you're released, how will Sophie cope on the outside, where she is expected to play by different rules?
Will she succeed in creating the life she wants? Or, like most prisoners, will she end up back where she started?
My Review
The author Sophie (a pseudonym used to protect her identity) was about to leave the UK for a fresh start, a change. She was seeking a better life than what she had or at least something different, yet a twist of fate, be it bad timing or been in the wrong place at the wrong time, leads to her arrest before her flight and the start of her 2 year stint in the UK women's Prison Service
While Sophie does not really describe the full incident of what lead to her arrest or much of the trial afterwards, we know little part like it was a charge of GBH and did involve the possible assault of a police officer. from her remain to her serving her sentence we join her in this read that almost has a diary like quality to it and I for one was obsessed.
Sophie we learn grew up in the north, her mother was a drug user and her father violent like many children from under privileged backgrounds she had to look after herself from a young age, but unlike many Sophie had passion and drive, she gained a scholarship to a fee paying school, studied well and had a decent job but i got the feeling she felt something was lacking and a sense of frustration that might have led to the events she was arrested for.
Like many I am drawn to crime reads and in turn prison and criminal stories, films and tv series, Orange is the new black, Prison break and a multitude of fly on the wall docuseries, from this we all seem to develop this knowledge of what prison is and what it is like inside yet this read for me turned a lot of those assumptions on its head.
No support, the denial of food and lack of even basic hygiene used a punishment, Sophie takes us on this journey with her from her sense of righteousness to always fight for herself Sophie finds herself increasingly on the wrong side of the prison officers and support staff who don't want her listen and some quite sickly take far too much joy in the control the have. She also finds herself having to turn to violence herself before other prisoners do in some kind of warped hierarchy, do to them before they turn and walk all over you and as crazy as it sounds your almost cheering as Sophie does these things as you can feel her fear and uncomfortableness and you can understand the reasoning in that environment.
But this is more than just some kind of one sided story almost bashing the prison service where it can, the author has carefully taken her time and her thoughts around food, violence, prison staff, lack of support, lack of educational support the limited opportunities for reform are all discussed and supported it all with facts and statistic's from the prison service as well as written with the open mind and the ability to see the events from her standpoint of a prisoner and now on the outside looking in.
This is a gritty, almost raw, brutally honest, balls to the wall account of life in a UK women's prison (or prisons she does move during the read) the author has risked everything to get her story out there not just for herself but to highlight the improvements needed that would help shape the HMP's in to a better version of themselves.
I admire Sophie honesty, passion and drive she has beaten the statistics and yet still wants to devote her time to helping a failing system, When this read arrived I as normal glance the first page or so before putting on my shelf, with this read i looked up and was 100 pages in, by late evening I had devoured Sophies story completely, this read was nothing short of addictive and all-encompassing and surprisingly compelling, i wish the author every sucess in the future!
Author Bio
Sophie Campbell is the winner of the Arts Council Time to Write grant and the Koestler Flash Fiction and Short Story award. This is her first book.
Purchase Links
Thank you to the Publisher and Author for sending me an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel and for the opportunity to review these works.
All reviews are my own unbiased opinion.
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