Orange Is the New Black cover art

Orange Is the New Black

My Time in a Women's Prison

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Orange Is the New Black

By: Piper Kerman
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
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About this listen

A new original series from Netflix

"Not just a tale of prisons, drugs, crime, or justice; it is, simply put, a beautifully told story about how incredible women can be" (Elizabeth Gilbert, bestselling author of Eat, Pray, Love.)

With her career, live-in boyfriend and loving family, Piper Kerman barely resembles the rebellious young woman who got mixed up with drug runners and delivered a suitcase of drug money to Europe over a decade ago. But when she least expects it, her reckless past catches up with her; convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at an infamous women's prison in Connecticut, Piper becomes inmate #11187-424.

From her first strip search to her final release, she learns to navigate this strange world with its arbitrary rules and codes, its unpredictable, even dangerous relationships. She meets women from all walks of life, who surprise her with tokens of generosity, hard truths and simple acts of acceptance.

Now an original comedy-drama series from Netflix, Piper's story is a fascinating, heartbreaking and often hilarious insight into life on the inside.

©2010 Piper Kerman (P)2012 Tantor, Inc. True Crime Witty Funny

Critic Reviews

"A bighearted book that depicts life in a women's prison with great detail and - crucially - with empathy and respect for Piper Kerman's fellow prisoners." (Dave Eggers, bestselling author of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius)
"A fantastic tale from the Siberia of America's war on drugs and a rippingly fun read right down to the unexpected moment of closure." ( Elle magazine USA)
All stars
Most relevant  
A great storyline. Entertaining & eye opening. Ending... I was so confused. Expecting a wow moment!

I really enjoyed it, but then it just ended.

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If you loved OITNB on Netflix and like me you are curios about the real Piper's story, you will LOVE this.

I recommend watching it first then reading this because then you can "match up" the characters with the real life people. The narrator did an amazing job distinguishing each person with their own "sound / voice." This comes across very professionally and naturally. I really loved it.

Will YOU love this more than the Netflix series?

THAT depends on you. If you love watching more than reading then maybe not.
If you want MORE drama and love the emotional rollercoaster of TV then you may not like this.
The Netflix series was based on this, and I found that really well done, however to really "sell it" as entertainment AND very importantly to inform and educate the viewers and raise awareness of prison life and it's many injustices - inspiration was used from women in other prisons. There is no riot here, however there WAS in other (mens) prisons. So these are based on historic events and some characters are based on real life people within those historic events. The purpose is to demonstrate the reality of prisons in the USA specifically. In that regard Netflix serves as a tool to raise awareness and inspire change while this books is simply Piper's story within her time in prison - not a full life autobiography.
If you understand that real life is not that entertaining and you just want to understand Piper's story (leading up to prison and ending at her release) then you will appreciate this book.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND but not to everyone

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Easy to listen too, interesting and a great reminder of how grateful we should be

Thought provoking

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The narrator was brilliant. I really loved how well and consistently she did the different accents for the characters.

The story was entertaining, informative and inspirational. Piper Kerman has a delightfully honest and compassionate outlook on her time in prison and on life in general.

Great story. Great narration

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This week I seem to be talking about books I’ve been meaning to read for ages. Orange is the New Black has interested me for ages, pretty much since it hit the shelves in Australia, but due to business and other shiny things catching my attention, I never got around to buying or borrowing it. (If someone can come up with a cure for ‘But I Meant to Read It!’ disease, please let me know). But this year I’ve been playing around with audiobooks, testing out which genres work best for me and so I thought I’d give a memoir a go to see if it could hold my attention while sitting in traffic (you have no idea how hard that can be considering I’m not actually doing anything)! Result: I was completely captivated by this audiobook. I was torn between not wanting it to end and wanting Piper to be released from prison so she could see her loved ones.

When Piper was younger, she was in a relationship with a woman who organised a bit of drug smuggling internationally. Naively, Piper got involved but soon got herself out of that scene and into one that’s a bit more familiar to the average person – job, fiancé, New York City living. Then came a blow – Piper’s past caught up with her and she was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison. Piper tells how do you prepare for going to gaol? What do you take? How do you explain yourself to family, friends and colleagues? Then the day finally comes and she hands herself in to the prison in Danbury, Connecticut. It’s something that she couldn’t have prepared for – strip searching, how to obtain money (it’s not as simple as a cheque), clothes and how to live with a number of other women. What’s the correct etiquette for asking someone why they’re in gaol? It’s a complete culture shock to Piper but she adjusts, making friends, getting a job and learning how to make prison cheesecake.

But there’s a twist in the story near the end – I was thinking as I listened, ‘no way would this happen in a fiction book’ where Piper’s last months in gaol are completely turned on their head and nothing is easy anymore. I found this part really emotional as Piper explains life where you have to watch your every move and lose your identity. That’s not to say that Danbury was a cakewalk, but it was a relatively stable environment. The whole book was an insight into a completely different world to me (I haven’t seen the television series) and I found it fascinating. It was uplifting to read about how small things could seem so kind and mean so much to others – like getting a pedicure or offering a piece of candy to someone.

There has been some criticism that Piper had it easy because she’s white, blonde, blue-eyed and college education. I think if you weren’t there, you can’t judge. Don’t people try to use what they have to advantage in everyday life anyway? Whatever. I found the story an eye-opener and slightly off putting because Piper could easily be one of my friends, one of my colleagues. In the middle-class world, you don’t hear of people going to prison and Orange is the New Black is an opportunity to read not only about the experience, but where the system could be improved. The lecture series on life after prison was jaw dropping because of the lack of practical information it contained, for example. How can you expect people to change if you can’t tell them how to get a job or rent a place to live?

I loved Cassandra Campbell’s narration of this book – it was superb. The small changes in voice/accent she made for each person was great, making it really clear as to who was speaking. She’s a very easy narrator to listen to and I’d like to listen to more audiobooks by her (providing I can get over her being the voice of Piper).

Fascinating, emotional and powerful

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I loved the new TV series but although the book is great, I missed the side stories of other inmates. Great listening! Keep up the good work Audible!

Love the TV show

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The book and the tv show are rather a like, while th tv how may speed the whole Ep on one small thing. The book give a lot of detail without drawing the story out. If you liked the show you will like the book

Book meets tv show

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What started out as an interesting insight into the prison system turned into a somewhat boring storyline at times.

It would have been interesting to compare and contrast her life before and after this experience however this was not part of the story unfortunately.

A somewhat interesting insight

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It was a good story, very easy to listen to and narrator was very good. I think I went into it with a really high expectation because I loved the series so much. It’s a good book but you can’t compare it to the series because they are nothing alike. Totally different.

Not as good as tv series

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Narrator was fantastic, the story line was very intuitive and kept me coming back for more. Loved it,well done

Very well read and insightful , loved it .

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