Customer Reviews

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I was fascinated by the way Kathy Page used single words, that her protagonist tattooed onto his body, to show how his sense of self was derived from the perceptions of others. She gets right inside his mind and we come to see the frailties and the strengths of the people he comes into contact with, as well as the workings of the prison system from the inside. This is a challenging and intriguing read. It challenges our acceptance (or ignorance) of a brutal penal system and provides much food for thought and discussion.

I found this a compelling read - the author is able to get inside the skin of her characters and create an authentic, believable story. Her experience as 'writer in residence' in a men's prison has enabled her to provide the reader with the feeling of imprisonment and allows insight into the juxtaposition of good and evil in all human beings.

This novel manages to combine an uncanny knowledge of the bizzare intricacies of the prison system within a compelling narrative. The characters are drawn with sympathy but this is no sentimental portrait of a killer. Rather it is the complexities of the protaganist's personality and the way that this is gradually, painfully slowly, changed over a long period and through bumpy encounters with inflexible authority as well as those who show a genuine concern, which carries conviction.

It is a good read as well as a telling reminder of the way in which we can fail to fully comprehend our fellow human beings.