*Featured on Radio 4's Book of the Week*

'A true, compassionate, and candid account of what it means to work in our prisons.' Dr Gwen Adshead

'A vivid, unsentimental look at a world we need to see... a powerful reminder of how far we are from prison reform.' The Observer

'An exceptional, compelling book... powerful.' Daily Mail

'This is a beautifully written narrative about hope and optimism, humanity, realism, resilience, and the complexity of people.' Professor David Wilson

__________

'The men I worked with and the staff I collaborated with over the past ten years in prisons taught me strength, compassion, courage, and above all, the need to talk, the need to share, and the need to tell these stories. These are the stories of lives lived, lost, and taken, behind walls so high we can pretend they hide an entirely different world. But at what cost? Few people leave prison unchanged. It is a place heavy with pain, a place where you will find dangerous, vulnerable, and forgotten human beings. But for Alex South, it was a place where she also found hope.

In this powerful and moving memoir, Alex tries to understand her experiences in the prisons, confronting the harsh reality of life inside and examining them from different angles. In an overwhelmingly male environment, where power and aggression are regularly displayed, Alex's perspective is particularly important.

Documenting the confusion and contradictions of prison life, Alex presents a life that often remains hidden from the public. Changing our perceptions, Behind These Doors reveals the many destructive, yet often inspiring, consequences that prison can have.

__________

'I was utterly absorbed while reading it - it is such a powerful memoir and one that sheds light on a world rarely seen by the public.' Nikki Smith

Pages: 352, Year of Publication: 0706, Dimensions: 21.6x21.6cm