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Purgatory

By: Jeffrey Archer
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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Publisher's Summary

Long days of boredom in confinement, the general inefficiency of prison bureaucracy and a critically over-stretched prison service. The tediousness of prison life kicks in for prisoner FF8282, also known as author Jeffrey Archer, in the second volume of his best-selling series The Prison Diaries. Still his fellow inmates show inspiring spirit and courage, amid an otherwise gloomy prison landscape, revealing that even in the darkest hours light can always be found.

In 2001 August 9th, Jeffrey Archer is transferred from HMP Belmarsh, a double-A Category high-security prison in south London, to HMP Wayland, a Category C establishment in Norfolk. Though more relaxed in terms of rules prison life still is no picnic, but rather a purgatory.

During his sixty-seven days in Wayland, Archer reveals the harsh details of everyday life in Britain’s prisons, offering firsthand insight into the lives led behind bars.

Jeffrey Archer is a bestselling British author and former politician. He was educated at Oxford and went on to become a Member of Parliament, the deputy chair of the Conservative Party as well as sitting in the House of Lords. His political career ended in scandal and he turned to writing and he has been published in over 275 million copies worldwide.

He is perhaps most famous for the Clifton Chronicles and his blockbuster Kane and Abel which was number one on the New York Time's Bestseller list and inspired a popular miniseries starring Peter Strauss and Sam Neill.

After he was imprisoned for perjury in 2001, he wrote his highly acclaimed non-fiction series, Prison Diaries - Hell, Purgatory and Heaven - which were inspired by his experiences and loosely structured around Dante's Divine Comedy.

©2021 SAGA Egmont (P)2021 SAGA Egmont

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Well read

I listened to this book at bed time and often drifted off to sleep before the timer went off and that is exactly what I’d hoped it will do.
I needed something that will be entertaining enough to listen to yet boring enough to clear my head and lull me into sleep.

The continuous sounds of times, days, dates and years became a bit irritating. I don’t think that would have been the case if I was reading it but it became a bit annoying to listen to out loud.
I think a week by week reference would have been more palatable.
Aside from that I think the performance was about the best I’ve heard. I liked the performance. The narrator is very skilled and did a fantastic job on all the characters and their voices.

The storyline was rather revealing of the English prison system and the insights each character brought. It’s a world w know nothing about it e we haven’t been incarcerated ourselves out at least knew someone who had.

It sounds to me that Jeffrey Archer was judged overly harsh for doing things nobody even thought had enough evidence to go to court. His strength of character and his ability to remain as strong and disciplined as he has during what must have been an awfully traumatic and soul destroying period of his life. He has shown the strength of character which demands respect for him and this book has left me feeling shocked, surprised, informed and most of all humbled by what he has endured and how incredibly hard that must have been for him.

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