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  • The Prison Doctor

  • Women Inside
  • By: Dr Amanda Brown
  • Narrated by: Sophie Aldred
  • Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (215 ratings)
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The Prison Doctor cover art

The Prison Doctor

By: Dr Amanda Brown
Narrated by: Sophie Aldred
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Summary

From the Sunday Times best-selling author Dr Amanda Brown.

Insights into the world of a prison doctor, this time taking us deeper into the walls of Bronzefield, the UK’s biggest women’s prison.

From the drug addicts who call Amanda ‘the mother I never had’ to the women who’ve pushed back at domestic abuse, to women close to release in their 70s, who just want to stay in the place that they’ve always known, these are stories that are heartbreaking, harrowing and heart-warming. Amanda listens, prescribes and does what she can. After all, she’s their doctor.

©2020 Dr Amanda Brown (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"Written with both humour and deep concern for the lives of her incarcerated patients. It’s a poignant, compassionate read, giving an insight into the complicated and damaged lives of some of the offenders...a thoroughly enlightening and engaging book." (Mail on Sunday)

"A fascinating, sometimes funny, often gruelling account of working behind bars." (Observer)

"All of the highs and lows of prison life, with heart-warming honesty and anecdotes to make your sides split and your jaw drop in equal measure.... Amanda has filled her book full of funny tales that both she and the inmates have had a good giggle at." (Sunday Express S Magazine)

What listeners say about The Prison Doctor

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Sn unrealistic portrayal of reality at Bronzefield

This book paints a falsely over rosy picture of life in Bronzefield. There is an inconsistency, the Dr says she often hasn't time for the ten minute consultation, yet listening to the book, the consultations often seem longer contradicting herself.
If you want a more realistic account of Bronzefield and life on release, read Breakfast at Bronzefield by ex inmate Sophie Campbell. Prisoners are antagonised my officers. They are often deprived of medical care. Water supply is turned off in cells. Drugs are rife. The prisoners in the mental health are doped up. Rehabilitation is denied. On release prisoners can be recalled for breach of license if they cannot find somewhere to live. Many prisoners are released homeless. I won't give the book away. As for this one, the Doctor seems to talk often about how good the prisoners think she is. Prisoners who come in addicted to benzodiazepines are taken off cold turkey. This is dangerous, while prisoners are given drugs to prevent seizures, cold turkey benzodiazepines can result in psychosis, this book even one lady mentioned being blinded temporarily and was sectioned on release. They claim benzodiazepines are not allowed in prison, because of addiction, yet all drugs are easier to get hold of in prison. Psychosis is dangerous as people can do anything, putting themselves, each other, and officers at serious risk. I feel this book is a totally unrealistically rosy account of prison life.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

There but by the grace of God....

As Amanda Brown says in this excellent follow-up to The Prison Doctor, and illustrates so powerfully with the anonymised stories of some of the female inmates she has treated, the lives of any one of us have the potential to take a wrong turn, resulting in incarceration. For many of the female residents - not prisoners - as she explains compassionately and compellingly, it is no surprise that they have ended up inside and, sadly, no surprise that so many return, often with near certainty.
There were two key take home messages for me. First, that for many of the patients she supports prison is a place of welcome safety, given the physical and mental abuse to which many of the women have been subjected in the outside world. Second, that the sentences received by many are simply far too short for them to receive effective support in helping them recover from substance abuse. An issue whose effects are exacerabted and multiplied by the lack of effective support and housing once released.
The power and strength of the book is that each chapter focuses on the situation and circumstances of one resident, ranging from a Romanian migrant duped in to prostitution by brutal pimps to a middle-class professional who snapped after years of coercive control and then found herself inside after stabbing her husband with a near-at-hand bread knife. Her story was very similar to that of a client when I was doing my articles, a delightful and very gentle lady whose life was turned upside down when, in self-defence, she picked up her husband's shotgun, left permanently loaded inside the kitchen door so he could take a pop at rabbits on their forest-gladed lawn, to avoid yet another beating. Unbeknown to her the safety latch was off and a split second later both their lives were irrevocably changed forever.
My one criticism of the book is Sophie Aldred's narration. Although very good for the most part, her delivery of Amanda Brown's praise for a resident's achievement is somewhat gushing. This is, however, a minor quibble for an otherwise riveting deeply disturbing, yet somehow life-affirming read. Life-affirming because one is full of respect and admiration for the work that Dr Brown and her colleagues do andfull of even greater admiration for the resilience, humanity and determination of the extraordinary residents she describes.
Don't get me wrong, this is not some soft, limp-wristed paean to prisoners - although it would've been better to acknowledge that there are clearly some real wrong'uns in the female prison population. It's a profoundly moving exposition of the particular challenges faced by many female inmates and a call for more considered,coherent support that enables fragile, shattered lives to be rebuilt.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Insightful but too much dialogue

I loved the first book of Prison Doctor but this one was a bit boring to be honest. Although it was insightful into women’s prisons and how some people in society live, there was far too much dialogue and the accents were too exaggerated and cringy. It would have been better if she didn’t put on all those cockney accents and just narrated it normally. Also I don’t know how she remembered so much dialogue as that seems impossible to me, but I found the dialogue too excessive for a book. I’m going to hope the sequel is better, the first book was much better than this one.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Stupid accents ruined it

Good stories, although there is no way she could remember such detailed conversations. But it was ruined by the ridiculous put on cockney accents, as though everyone in prison sounded like Nancy from Oliver Twist. So cringey.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A book I didn’t want to end

Loved Dr Brown’s first book and this is equally excellent. Easy to listen to, heartwarming and relatable

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Outstanding book of women's stories

Once I started listening to this book this afternoon, I couldn't stop. absolutely captivating the story of a prison doctor and her patients, I laughed and cried throughout.
I feel a profound sense of injustice at they system have treated many women in this book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great book

Loved it it was an easy listen with lots of different stories in each chapter

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Terrible narrator

The book itself is good. Dr Brown seems to be the compassionate GP we all need, willing to learn and meet her patients as a fellow human being. I only hope it's accurate. I don't think there is enough acknowledgement of the harm prison does to many, especially the more marginalised. If only rates of rehabilitation in this book mirrored reality. It is good to hear the success stories though. However I don't like the performance of the narrator. Poor attempts at generic working class accents like watching a school play. The attempt at a Manchester accent (also used for an inmate from Yorkshire...) is worse than Daphne in Frasier!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Decent listen

it's a bit more personal story than the stories of the prisoners. interesting, but not what I was hoping for. very well performed though.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Interesting but I wanted more of an entire story of someone

Unsure between a 2/3 score. Some parts were really engaging and interesting and some parts felt flat. I wanted to deep dive into peoples stories and situations.I wanted to know more than just ‘women don’t offend as much as men’ … yeah that’s expected but how do they cope in prison rather than just a one liner from multiple inmates, do they have blips, why, why do they fight, what’s the big successes from people who have changed loads and reformers who had made such huge cultural impact maybe and how they did it

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