‘I had no intention of leaving prison and letting my experiences there define me’.

I find prison memoirs to be fascinating – it’s a whole side of society I have never (and hope to never) experience and the words from those inside are an important way of knowing what’s actually going on outside of the biased press and politicians. This was my first memoir from a female prisoner and it was a really interesting insight. There are a lot of issues explored here from racism to sexism, mental health, exploration of education and rehabilitation programmes as well as what happens after you are released from prison which I haven’t seen in similar books before. There’s also a nice amount of statistics to back everything up – it really is an eye opener.

My only problem with the book is the author themselves; it’s very hard to take the upper hand on how badly she was treated in prison due to her race or background when her behaviour does little to back any of it up. After having gone to prison for violent assault against a police officer she then goes on to talk about multiple instances where she assaults prison guards in the same way. In one example she pours water over guard’s head, throws the bottle at her, kicks her and then jumps on top of her and begins to pull her braids out. The reason? Not providing additional burgers when they ran out in the canteen because she came down late. There’s other instances mentioned where she throws her TV out of a window, throws sour milk at a nurse and fakes suicide to get attention. These seem to continue right from when she gets to jail until she leaves it and really undermines any valid point she has to say on her treatment and the treatment of those around her.

It seems that she honestly seems oblivious to it – for example, she is astonished none of the approved houses will take her after she is released because of her ‘violent status’. She talks about how ridiculous and dangerous it is that the prison allowed her to move back home with her father who was a convicted violent offender. However, she doesn’t seem to have linked the point that they only made this choice after she threw a TV out of the window of her cell and kicked off enough to make them have to make that choice in the first place. She also talks a lot about how educated she is and laughs at the attempts to get prisoners jobs in Pret or Timpsons which she thinks are beneath her. Although there is surely a lot more that can be done to offer job opportunities for ex-prisoners at least there are some option available! I’m sure not all prisoners would want to lie on a job application like she did to get other work.

While the points made about the failings of the prison system are valid and important it’s a real shame that the author’s behaviour actually undermines some of these issues. If the author had been less violent and these issues had still been a problem it would be a much more powerful read although I appreciate her honesty and candour in talking about her behaviour and experiences.

Overall Breakfast at Bronzefield is an important read and raises some valid talking points about the way prisons are run today. Thank you to NetGalley & Sophie Campbell Books for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sophie Campbell had been sent to Bronzefield Prison, the largest women’s prison in England while waiting on remand to appear in court accused of GBH and assaulting a police officer. This is her story of prison life and her life after serving a two-year sentence.
There is a little about her early teenage years, where you find out about her home life and first massive leap to win a scholarship to attend a fee-paying school. Sophie wasn’t someone even then, who would fall in step with the life she had been born into. I was already admiring this young girl.
I don’t know the circumstances of the GBH offence and it isn’t my place to make judgement, that has already been done. This is her story and what prison life is really like, nothing fluffed up to make it juicy, just bare honest facts. I have read a couple of books written by men prisoners but this is my first look at prison life from a woman’s point of view.
Now Sophie is no-ones pushover, she is determined from the start that she won’t take anyone’s crap. Give an inch and you just never get back up. She has her run-ins with inmates and prison officers too but mainly the story is about daily life. The basic needs and rights that are not always met sometimes because what is promised just isn’t there or simply someone can just say no.
It is clear Sophie wants to make things better for inmates, their right to further their education and give prisoners a chance of making a living when they are released. What an advocate she is, not only does she want these things to change, she backs everything with documentation, research and law.
I think some the hardest times she faces is when she is released from prison. It would have been all too easy to lay down, give up and end up back inside but she is a fighter. I mean that in the best possible way. There is an energy about her that is contagious that made me want to shout, ‘Go for it, never give up.
The book is well written and kept me wanting to know what came next for her. I wish this lady every success in her future. Thanks to the author for a copy of this book which I have reviewed honestly.

I hate to admit I struggled a little with this book. I was really hoping for a gritty look at life inside and although parts of it I did enjoy, a lot of the interesting stories and shocking moments were masked by the inclusion of huge amounts of statistics. I understand why they were included but as a matter of personal taste, for me it really interrupted the storytelling of this book. The storytelling I could piece together amongst this was interesting and shocking. The writer has so many experiences that I’d have loved to have read in a more uninterrupted way, the style just didn’t do it for me I’m afraid.

This is an honest account of the author's time in prison which I really wanted to enjoy. Unfortunately I just could not get into this biography. I dont know if it was the style or if it was my own mental state but I found myself not wanting to carry on.

I'm gutted as someone I talk to has read this and loved it! I think I will try and pick this up again in the future but for now it just wasn't for me. Sorry!!

Excellent book ! A fantastic look into women's incarceration. Sad, but true. Everyone should have to read this.

“If people are serious about addressing the female prison population then there needs to be an overhaul in the way in which society views female prisoners. We come in all shapes and sizes and from diverse backgrounds, but the narrative that surrounds us is both stereotypical and outdated, and does little to encourage us to take responsibility for our actions…”

Thank you for the opportunity to review Breakfast at Bronzefield. I posted my thoughts on NetGalley, my Instagram account on which I review books, and on Goodreads.

This book outlines an anonymous personal account of jail time spent at HMP Bronzefield, an infamous, large women’s prison outside Greater London. It focuses on women’s & BAME issues within criminal justice system in Britain substantially. The author’s inspiration behind the book is to “expose the abuses that occur inside female prisons” and “to demonstrate that women can achieve great things despite having gone to prison.”
Just a little bit of information: HMP Bronzefield is a private prison for women, houses around 530 prisoners, infamous for alleged neglect and abuses. A 2013 report condemned some of their segregation practices as torture. It is located in Ashford, which is right outside London.

Some of my key takeaways from this book: I am suggesting this book to those interested in criminal justice system, prisoner rehabilitation and treatment, systematic reform, and BAME/women issues. Personally, I am impressed by the author’s determination to tell her story. As an anonymous writer, Sophie Campbell is asserting that her experience in prison was riddled with neglect. She poses some assertions which are backed up with various sources’ data. I think that the author is self-aware; she knows her mistakes, she knows her background, and she knows the odds were against her. Yet, her account was honest and motivating. In fact, against the odds, she survived being released homeless, got a job, and got a place at a good university (where she was inspired during a module to write her story).

Thank you again for the chance to read your book. I wish you luck and congratulations on getting through it all.

Breakfast at Bronzefield is an honest account of Sophie Campbell's (pseudonym) time in prison for GBH. Her period of remand and sentence is organised in themes and is an unflinching portrayal of time spent in the prison system.

I mean unflinching in that it states the good, bad and ugly with nothing held back. You have to respect the level of honesty in Sophie's retelling of events. Because she is not always presented in a favourable, positive light when detailing her response to certain situations.

The depiction of prison makes you fear to be at the mercy of these officials and the bureaucracy moreso than the other inmates.

The level of bureaucracy is ridiculous. There are established rules for every process, procedure and event yet few are communicated to inmates or staff when relevant or required. The frustration is evident in the writing. I could feel myself tensing up at certain events. Even on occasion becoming angry on response to the inefficiencies, injustices and pettiness. The lack of communication appears to drive a lot of the conflicts experienced.

It is an understatement to say being black in a place like prison is difficult

Prison is almost an isolated environment yet appears concurrently to be a microcosm of life on the outside. You are defined by race and sex. Standing up for yourself, ascertaining your rights can be seen as challenging authority. Knowing yourself, valuing your abilities is seen as opinionated which can be dangerous for a person of colour.

What is referenced throughout is that the things you do there (in prison), the way you behave can be radically different to outside. Being in these surrounding can escalate your behavior to extremes not normally expected. Are you changed by being in that environment or does it bring out latent tendencies?

It is as if you have to constantly remind yourself of who you are, not were or you'd be sucked into believing you are the stereotype attributed to you.

Breakfast at Bronzefield is written primarily by theme rather than chronologically which is great for obtaining a wider understanding of issues, but the jumping around in the time line and the number of inmates and officers made it personally difficult to keep track. The persons described, could easily seem like characters, cast in a play, there to illustrate a point, but the 'realness' shows through. Moreover, it gives a good indication of the myriad of people involved in the criminal justice system.

The chapters were interesting, varied, and thought provoking. Themes include violence, sexual abuse, race relations, drug misuse, educational and occupational opportunities to name a few.

What I took from reading this book includes but is not limited to the following:
• Friendships and friendship groups in prison can be safety in numbers but also a bind that is difficult to shake off and often not worth the trouble.
• Family and friends on the outside can be a hindrance if they are not supportive. At worse can even intentionally sabotage the inmate's case or progress
• The importance of providing fit for purpose educational and training opportunities cannot be stressed highly enough; funding services that benefits the groups it is aimed at, who require it most, is crucial.
• Helping inmates to reintegrate back into society is essential, doing so in practical ways rather than tick box exercises is necessary. Cutting corners, putting unnecessary blockers in processes is detrimental and a waste of time and money for all involved.
• Changing public perception about who is an ex - offender should be a continual work in progress. Stereotypes are not always the reality. But widely held beliefs and long established prejudices makes it clear that there are few circumstances when it pays to disclose being an ex offender.

• It made me consider a number of questions on the purpose of prisons
• What does rehabilitation mean?
• To reform, educate, train?
• What is incarceration in its present format supposed to achieve?
• What are the benefits to the inmate and the wider community?

I don't have any firm answers to the questions I've posed but know it's evident that things must change. The system as it is, benefits no individual, community, or government institution. Given the prison budget and the number of enquiries already undertaken, it would seem obvious that overhauling in a structured way after an evidenced based needs review is well overdue.

I wouldn't say that Breakfast at Bronzefield was an eye opener as I knew some of this already, but it really shone a spotlight on areas that I was hazy on the details of and gave context to those inflammatory newspaper headlines. It was well researched, with lots of facts to drive the discourse or support the author's findings.

In writing this memoir, Sophie Campbell has been honest about her background, her life and the learning she obtained from this experience. It made me pause and think how fragile life is, and how the impact of one event can have repercussions on your present and future, infact life long damaging consequences if you are an ex-offender.

Are you overwhelmed or do you overcome?

Thankfully in this case, Sophie has beaten the odds by not reoffending, not being limited by the label of ex-offender and making progress in her life. Congratulations on taking the initiative and making this experience your past and not letting it define your now and blighting your future.

I'm just sorry that the system doesn't help female and male inmates the way it should.

My only criticism would be due to the focus on themes there were darting timelines and sometimes it was confusing if I already heard about this event or it had happened multiple times. And I would have preferred footnotes rather than endnotes as that would have made it easier to read the references when cited. But these are my minor observations and might not be an issue for other readers.

My thanks to the author and Netgalley for a digital copy of the book in exchange for a candid review.

If a person seeks only to ever see the negative, that's what they're going to find.

Normally, if I give a lower rating to anything autobiographical, I am at pains to say I'm not denigrating the person's experience - just saying that the book is poorly written or badly structured. This time I'm probably leaning in the opposite direction. I didn't like the book because I couldn't like the writer.

Sophie Campbell - or whoever she is since that's a pseudonym - approached her time in prison from a sense that everything was everybody else's fault and entirely failed to address her own offending behaviour whether before or in prison. She evades telling us what she did but GBH is a serious issue; GBH against a member of the police even more so. She clearly has some serious issues about anger management and her attitude to authority and people in uniforms. During her time in the two prisons, she continued to use violent assaults against staff and other prisoners without any apparent remorse for her actions.

Sophie has an over-developed sense of entitlement that means she seems entirely unable to see that the treatment she received - exaggerated for dramatic effect as it may be - was largely brought upon her by her own actions and attitudes. If you go to school and spit at the teachers, you won't get treated like the good kids. If you get a job and throw water over your colleagues, you won't have a job for long. And if you act up in prison, punch staff, annoy other inmates by ringing your buzzer all night, you're likely to receive some of the limited sanctions that staff can apply against you.

There are things she doesn't mention and one of the main ones is that Bronzefield is a private prison and not managed by the Her Majesty's Prison Service. I mention this for the many readers who are not UK-based. Private prisons tend to be staffed less professionally than HMPS prisons and some have such poor records that rioting has led to their closure or being taken back into HMPS control because the private contractors just can't deliver the appropriate service. Private contractors are aiming for maximum profit at minimum spend and so may well cut back on food rations.

She also says nothing about the vast majority of GOOD prison staff. My husband has served 30 years for HMPS, including several years at a women's prison in Suffolk where he soon learned that for many of the women in his care, he and other male officers were the first men who had ever treated them fairly and with respect after many years of physical and sexual abuse from male relatives, drug dealers and pimps. My husband has never been assaulted, never been investigated, has never drawn his baton and was often stopped on the street by ex-inmates in our area because they wanted to ask how he was doing and let him know they were OK. He is not atypical of many prison staff. I recall one older lady chatting with him for 20 minutes at a village fete, and introducing her husband. As we walked away he whispered to me "She pushed her mother-in-law down the stairs and nearly killed her".

Sophie Campbell tries to tell us that she's not like the other women inside because she went to a fancy school, has more than average education, and was working before she seriously assaulted a police officer. She also tells us that both her parents were drug addicts, that her father did a long sentence for violent crime and various other members of her family also had criminal records. Sorry, but fancy school or not, that sounds pretty exactly like a lot of the other women to me. She's angry that she ended up on remand - despite planning to flee the country and having her suitcases and passport with her when she was arrested.

There are many things wrong with the women's prison estate that need to be addressed and my two stars are for her raising awareness but I'm not sure Campbell makes the strongest case when she's been such a problem inmate, with dozens of assaults on staff. There are too few prisons in the UK and too much of the capacity is in the London area. Far too many women lose contact with family and friends due to being very distant from their homes. Often prisons are in areas hard to reach by public transport. Women who can't keep contact with family are much more likely to lose their children into the care system and will struggle to get them back on release. Getting a job with a criminal record is never easy - especially with many roles in even low-paid work requiring criminal record checks. And being released with less than £50 in your pocket and a one-way travel warrant is insane. Being in prison isn't a holiday camp - though some tabloid newspapers would have you believe differently.

Campbell has served her time and deserves a clean slate. She writes well - though in a rather rambling and repetitive style - and the book could have been half as long and twice as effective. Those who self-publish often suffer from over-egging their pudding if they don't get a good editor. I wish her well but I don't think her book is as effective as it might have been and I hope that one day she'll start to accept that sometimes change has to come from within.

With thanks to Netgalley and Sophie Campbell for the free ARC in return for an honest review.

Breakfast at Bronzefield is an honest account of a woman’s time spent in two women’s prisons in the UK. Campbell (a pseudonym) isn’t just upfront about what she experienced in prison, but is very much clear in her accounts of herself, the people she dealt with in the court system, the lawyers, and her own family.

Some people writing a similar account might try to paint themselves in a better light, justify their actions, try to ignore their own faults. Campbell doesn’t do any of this. She confronts everything, telling us readers exactly what she did and her reactions to certain situations, without really making excuses, but providing context. Although she gives no details of the crime that saw her locked up, she does explain it was GBH and assault on a police officer, though she does clarify a little on what actually happened with the officer.

I really admire Sophie Campbell. It’s hard not to. The book reveals her determination, her strength, and her attitude of ‘treat me as you want to be treated’. She presents information alongside her own experiences, providing statistics and quotes from reports, as well as putting forth her own ideas on how prisons can be reformed.

She talks about her actions in prison, the attitude of the guards towards the women, the way other women acted, and the version of a ‘typical female prisoner’ versus the reality. For Sophie, the problem is twofold. Because she is in prison, and because she is Black, no one expects her to be highly educated. Some women act up to the impression the guards hold of what a female prisoner should act like, with middle-class women putting on more lower-class accents. Sophie does not do this, and admits she may have been treated worse because she does not conform to the guards’ stereotypical views.

There’s a lot of issues raised throughout this book, and I really hope it gets the attention it deserves. It shows how much is wrong with the current system, and though Campbell is aware there are no simple solutions, she makes the case for reform really well. And really, just because the solutions aren’t simple doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.

She details her treatment, and explains why having more women in guard roles and more BAME people is not the solution to many of the problems faced by women in prison. Instead, Campbell’s book points out why total reform is required, with more focus on providing women in prison with training and education, with actual skills they can utilize on leaving, and why training needs to go above a Level 1.

Overall, this is a really good book that provides a detailed account of life in the prison system. Sophie Campbell mixes narrative and facts in a way that makes the book almost fascinating to read, and through this book and the battle to get it published, she has shown herself to be a strong woman who won’t let anyone silence her, and won’t let anything stand in her way.

As I said above, this book deserves attention, because of the subject matter and engaging tone. Changes need to be made, at every level of the criminal justice system, and Campbell outlines this really well. This is definitely a book worth picking up.

this book was interesting but felt however it lacked a little something about a BAME female in 2 prisons and her experiences of the system when in and once released and some of the people she had met whilst there both inmates and officers

Breakfast at Bronzefield is an unflinchingly honest look into the British prison system from the point of view of a young, British, BAME women who has spent time in prison. It delves deeply into the politics and injustices of life behind bars, and the daily struggle to achieve even the basic human rights. Sophie doesn’t hold back on her experiences inside, and sets out to prove that female prisoners are woefully underrepresented and forgotten about in a system that just doesn’t seem to care, and favours the prisoner guards. Because who’s going to believe the story of an ‘uneducated’ or ‘drug filled’ woman over a respectable guard?

I think this throws up a lot of interesting and valuable points, especially given the current climate around police brutality and race. Sophie really doesn’t shy away from exposing everything of herself and her experience – often to the point where she doesn’t paint herself in the best light – having tantrums and starting fights to get what she wants. I admired this a lot, as it actually made me relate to Sophie more and feel an emotional connection to her predicament. I think if I was in her position, I’d probably do the same thing. Desperate times call for desperate measures – even if that doesn’t make you out to be a good person. Sophie at no point tries to make what she does seem acceptable, but she does demonstrate just how much power her prison guards had over her – being able to restrict or deny her food, clean water and even sanitary towels. No-one, regardless of what they have done to end up inside, should be denied these rights just because of a vendetta someone has over another human being.

Sophie has also clearly put a lot of thought into articulating her points regarding females in the system prion, backing up her statements with well documented and researched facts and figures. It shows she’s passionate about the subject, and trying to raise awareness about the lack of support female prisoners have, and a distinct lack of educational resources to raise them out of the cycle of re offending. There is little to no support available to women to try and rehabilitate them to the wider world on release, and little opportunity to better themselves inside via school courses, meaning the majority of these women end up back inside. Because a lot of them are also originally inside due to husbands and boyfriends crimes, on release they are simply sent back to them – instigating a high chance of re-offending. More needs to be done for these forgotten women, and Sophie’s voice has a drive to it in her writing that inspires the reader to reach out and help.

A passionate and honest discussion into what life is really like in prison from someone who’s been there, on the inside, and experienced a lifetime of harrowing acts and a violation of their human rights. It shines a bright light on the topic area, and demonstrates that we as a wider population have more to do in order to help these women to break the cycle of poverty and crime.

Breakfast at Bronzefield tells the story of Sophie Campbell's (pseudonym) time incarcerated at Bronzefield - the largest women prison both in UK and Europe. She is charged with GBH (grievous bodily harm) and assault on police officer (although she did not really expand on this), and spent two years in prison.

My thoughts: I always find it difficult to rate memoirs as it is a person's experience and personal journey in life. So, my rating here is for the writing and storytelling, rather than the content. With that being said, I have to say that this was an eye-opening book for me. The brutality, abuse of power by prison officers, fights, poor living conditions, are all both shocking and appalling. There a lot of information, statistics, research data shared in this book. As much as how informative this book is, I find it somewhat frustrating and I struggled to finish it as the writing style is shambolic. Despite the chapters with titles, I am still unsure of the essence of each chapter and hence, it felt repetitive, and going in circles. I appreciate that Sophie shared her story with so much honesty in her memoir, but I do wish that it was written in a better and engaging way.

Pub. Date: 22 Jun, 2020

***Thank you Sophie Campbell Books and NetGalley for this gifted review copy in exchange for an honest review.***

Sophie Campbell's account of her time in Bronzefield's women's prison is a shocking insight into how the UK prison system sets female inmates up to fail on their release. In the early chapters, Campbell describes how she was asked to sign a non disclosure agreement preventing her from talking about her experience on release - its clear to see why. Orange is the New Black this ain't.

This book won't just give the reader an insight into daily life in a women's prison but will show the vast, often farcical, inadequacies that female prisoners face both inside and out. Brutal, disinterested staff and a system unfit for its purpose explains a lot about why women get stuck in the prison system all explained in an easy and entertaining read.

Breakfast at Bronzefield is an account of the truly horrific experiences of Sophie Campbell during her time as an inmate at HMP Bronzefield and HMP Downview.
I have read quite a few accounts of people imprisoned or working in prisons recently and would recommend them to anyone who think that being in prison in the UK is an easy option.
Sophie is incredibly honest in her account. She does not shy away from her behaviour in prison, which she explains is the only way to get prison authorities to things done (her treatment is absolutely appalling throughout the time there and in particular at the end of her sentence).
Sophie details her background, which is inspiring, how on earth she managed to motivate herself and finance her own education in the face of such adversity, and how she continues to strive and thrive when she leaves prison.
Sophie also backs up her own account with details and statistics of other women in prison which makes this a whole and completely well rounded book, rather than solely her personal account.
Thanks to NetGalley and the author for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Sophie spent two years incarcerated. She describes her time inside in intimate detail. She's also open and honest about the time she spent behind bars. We learn of the violence, mental health issues, drug abuse and much much more that takes place on a daily basis. We also learn of the time she spent at HMP Downview. Sophie was determined to stand up for her rights and how she found the lack of educational opportunity annoying. They were only offered basic literary skills. Sophie doesn't really tell us why she was in prison.

This is an interesting memoir written by Sophie (a pseudonym). It's not for the faint hearted.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Sophie Campbell Books, and the author Sophie Campbell for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
I had some issues with this book. Overall it was an eye opener on the prison system and how much goes wrong with it. I did feel at some points like the author was not owning up to her behavior and blaming the system on things that were really more her responsibility.
Other than my personal issues with this book, she does show that there is plenty of abuse and assumptions about female inmates that hinder their rehabilitation efforts.

Breakfast at Bronzefield is the story of Sophie Campbell, a pseudonym, and her time in two women’s prisons; Bronzefield and Downview. Sophie shares her intriguing story of what it is like to be a minority female and the struggles she faced from this throughout her time in prison and her life afterwards.

This account was so interesting as it highlighted the significant injustice that many prisoners face, backed up both with general statistics and her own personal experiences from this. As much as I found it difficult to read at times, such as the multiple times she found herself in seg, I only think her reasons for justifying her behaviour highlighted the issues within the UK criminal justice system even more.

This book goes through many areas such as mental health, drugs, violence and education to name a few, giving a well-rounded insight to the struggles prisoners face. I found this to be a really interesting, educational and informative read and would highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very powerful read.

It is very honest. The author throughout gives statics which are eye opening. It is a gripping, insightful first hand account. It breaks stereotypes & the author is one strong person!

We all imagine what prison life must be like, but try as we might I'm sure most of us get nowhere near the reality.
This story gets my attention with the most unpleasant feelings of what it must be like. A never ending nightmare of arguing, tension, violence, poor food (surprisingly lack of it) and abuse so much abuse physical and mental.
The description of prison life is more than disturbing its horrific. This book doesn't beat around the bush it describes life for the author and the daily struggles faced inside and how she's constantly shocked by the British criminal justice system.
Documented seemingly very honest we see the journey of Sophie and her daily experiences leading up to bail and after sentencing. Sophie explains how she grew up in the North of England and although she doesn't disclose the actual detail of her offence she does disclose that it was for Grievous Bodily harm against a police officer. No Angel, Sophie highlights what really happens behind closed doors in Prison HMP Bronzefield, spending time on the Mental Health wing because there was simply no room for where she should be because of overcrowding. Still Sophie and lots of women try against all the odds to make a better life for themselves often leaving with nowhere to go, very little money and of course homeless.
Sophie holds nothing back and I enjoyed it although it definitely isn't an easy read.
Tons of facts and statistics stopped this from being like other memoirs I have read and enjoyed and reduced my rating. I felt a little bogged down by the overload of information but I also understand why she has added it. For me a stronger bond with the people and their characters would have made it a higher rating.
Through sheer resilience she manages to get through all the obstacles thrown at her and Sophie is excellent at articulating how the system is failing so many inmates on a daily basis.
I hope she goes on to be successful in life and follows a happier journey than her previous ones.
Thank you for the advanced copy.

I am both heartbroken and inspired after reading this book. Breakfast at Bronzefield is an exposé of the criminal justice system and female prisons in Great Britain. Sophie, the author, is honest about how the system fails women constantly while they are serving their sentences. She addresses problems inmates face both inside and outside of the jail setting and calls for action to be taken to ensure prisoners are given the appropriate support. I enjoyed this book more than others I have read that deal with these issues because the author served time in prison herself. She is able to articulate what is not working by referring to her own experiences. As always, it is important to elevate the voices of those who have dealt with an issue personally. I can see this book being an important source for those interested in prisoner advocacy.

(I received a digital copy of this book from NetGallery in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed above are my own.)