Description: The first book of its kind, written by a transgender life-sentence prisoner. Includes key extracts from official publications. With a graphic account of the author's own transition journey. Contains practical information and tips.
Brief description: Sarah Jane Baker is a talented musician, poet and author who has served 25 years of a life sentence for the attempted murder of another prisoner. The winner of countless awards and a qualified counsellor, she is (as Alan Baker before her transition) the author of Life Imprisonment: An Unofficial Guide (Waterside Press, 2013).
Review Quotes:
'This book will help give confidence and practical help to those who dare to be different and will also inform anyone working or volunteering in the criminal justice system... read it and learn from the battle-weary Sarah so that her scars have not been in vain'-- Independent Monitor.
'A must read for everyone involved in the Criminal Justice System... I was very impressed with the amount of research carried out in writing the book, which is written in a clear and concise style, concentrating mainly on the necessary facts... it will open up your mind... and give you a much greater understanding of how the prison system deals with one area of diversity that has been neglected for far too long'-- Inside Time (read the full review).
'An important contribution to current debates on the treatment of transgender prisoners'-- Mia Harris, Oxford University.
'I was heartbroken. It felt like a bereavement. The young man I had come to love as a son had disappeared overnight, and been replaced by a girl who was not my daughter, but, I felt, a stranger'-- Pam Stockwell (From the Foreword)