Each volume is named after a part of Dante's The Divine Comedy. The volumes become progressively longer due to his stay being longer and longer at each prison in which he was confined.
This book, written under the nom de plumeFF 8282, documents Archer's introduction to the prison system. He was to spend the first 22 days and 14 hours in HMP Belmarsh, a double A-Category high-security prison in South London. Although Archer spent less than a month there, Belmarsh is described as a real hell-hole. Despite this, many of the inmates are extremely kind to him and regale him with anecdotes, which he duly records. One such prisoner apparently spoken of is the inspiration to one of his short stories from Cat O'Nine Tales, "It Can't Be October Already". On the other hand, some of the information Archer learns in his three weeks at Belmarsh is extremely disturbing, and he makes great play of imagining that the then Home Secretary, David Blunkett, ought to be reading it and asks for his attention. One theme is the fact that some inmates are thrown into cells for first time offences even though the cellmate is a hardened criminal or murderer and/or drug addict. Further, it seems there are more heroin addicts coming out of prison than going in. This is because of both random and compulsory checks in which the inmates have discovered cannabis does not leave the system any time soon, but heroin is flushed out of the body in 24 hours providing large quantities of water have been consumed. They want a drug and this is the one they can obtain. Other inmates he talked with include an experienced Listener (for the Samaritans), who had been sexually abused through much of his childhood, existing as a sex-slave, and only knew crime. The very people set up by the institutions to protect him like social workers and magistrates, judges and policemen, let him down, and also paid to abuse him. He also describes how an inmate who professed to love his books casually offered to arrange for the witness whose testimony was the main factor in Archer's conviction to be murdered in revenge. Archer learned this man was serving two life sentences for murdering a man he'd caught his wife in bed with, before raping and murdering her afterward. He comes away from the encounter very disturbed.
Volume 2: Wayland: Purgatoryedit
Published: 2003
This book is much longer than the previous one and charts Archer's time in HMP Wayland, a C-Category prison near Thetford in Norfolk. The rules are more relaxed, but as the title suggests, boredom is the main enemy for all prisoners, not just Archer. He charts each day in varying levels of detail depending on whether anything of interest happens. His friends and family remain constantly faithful and carry on his appeal case while he is incarcerated. It was here that he apparently encountered another character inspiring a short story in Cat O'Nine Tales, Maestro. Archer interacted more in this prison with those inmates who could obtain for him goods and services not formally permitted by the authorities, like extra BTphone-cards. He emphasizes how ineffective prison bureaucracy is, especially how the hierarchy works or rather does not work, for example a number of personnel each claiming to be governor.
Volume 3: North Sea Camp: Heavenedit
Published: 2004
This details his time in North Sea Camp near Boston, Lincolnshire a D-category open prison. More privileges, a more relaxed regime and of course, more anecdotes from his time in prison. Archer spent almost a year in this prison and some weeks, once eligible, working in the local theatre. A minor breach of conditions during a home visit resulted in Archer being sent to B-Category HMP Lincoln for 22 days - described in a section of the book subtitled "Back to Hell". An investigation reversed the decision and he finished his sentence inside D-category HMP Hollesley Bay without opportunity for outside work, summarised in an epilogue.
Referencesedit
External linksedit
Official site of Jeffrey Archer
April 11, 2024
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Not to be confused with Prison Notebooks This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article consists almost entirely of a plot summary Please help improve the article by adding more real world context February 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia s notability guideline for books Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention If notability cannot be shown the article is likely to be merged redirected or deleted Find sources A Prison Diary news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message A Prison Diary is a series of three books of diaries written by Jeffrey Archer during his time in prisons following his convictions for perjury and perverting the course of justice Each volume is named after a part of Dante s The Divine Comedy The volumes become progressively longer due to his stay being longer and longer at each prison in which he was confined Contents 1 Volume 1 Belmarsh Hell 2 Volume 2 Wayland Purgatory 3 Volume 3 North Sea Camp Heaven 4 References 5 External linksVolume 1 Belmarsh Hell editBelmarsh Hell nbsp First editionAuthorJeffrey ArcherCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglishGenreAutobiographical prisonPublisherMacmillanPublished in English2002Media typePrintPages272ISBN1 4050 2094 6Followed byWayland Purgatory This book written under the nom de plume FF 8282 documents Archer s introduction to the prison system He was to spend the first 22 days and 14 hours in HMP Belmarsh a double A Category high security prison in South London Although Archer spent less than a month there Belmarsh is described as a real hell hole Despite this many of the inmates are extremely kind to him and regale him with anecdotes which he duly records One such prisoner apparently spoken of is the inspiration to one of his short stories from Cat O Nine Tales It Can t Be October Already On the other hand some of the information Archer learns in his three weeks at Belmarsh is extremely disturbing and he makes great play of imagining that the then Home Secretary David Blunkett ought to be reading it and asks for his attention One theme is the fact that some inmates are thrown into cells for first time offences even though the cellmate is a hardened criminal or murderer and or drug addict Further it seems there are more heroin addicts coming out of prison than going in This is because of both random and compulsory checks in which the inmates have discovered cannabis does not leave the system any time soon but heroin is flushed out of the body in 24 hours providing large quantities of water have been consumed They want a drug and this is the one they can obtain Other inmates he talked with include an experienced Listener for the Samaritans who had been sexually abused through much of his childhood existing as a sex slave and only knew crime The very people set up by the institutions to protect him like social workers and magistrates judges and policemen let him down and also paid to abuse him He also describes how an inmate who professed to love his books casually offered to arrange for the witness whose testimony was the main factor in Archer s conviction to be murdered in revenge Archer learned this man was serving two life sentences for murdering a man he d caught his wife in bed with before raping and murdering her afterward He comes away from the encounter very disturbed Volume 2 Wayland Purgatory editPublished 2003This book is much longer than the previous one and charts Archer s time in HMP Wayland a C Category prison near Thetford in Norfolk The rules are more relaxed but as the title suggests boredom is the main enemy for all prisoners not just Archer He charts each day in varying levels of detail depending on whether anything of interest happens His friends and family remain constantly faithful and carry on his appeal case while he is incarcerated It was here that he apparently encountered another character inspiring a short story in Cat O Nine Tales Maestro Archer interacted more in this prison with those inmates who could obtain for him goods and services not formally permitted by the authorities like extra BT phone cards He emphasizes how ineffective prison bureaucracy is especially how the hierarchy works or rather does not work for example a number of personnel each claiming to be governor Volume 3 North Sea Camp Heaven editPublished 2004This details his time in North Sea Camp near Boston Lincolnshire a D category open prison More privileges a more relaxed regime and of course more anecdotes from his time in prison Archer spent almost a year in this prison and some weeks once eligible working in the local theatre A minor breach of conditions during a home visit resulted in Archer being sent to B Category HMP Lincoln for 22 days described in a section of the book subtitled Back to Hell An investigation reversed the decision and he finished his sentence inside D category HMP Hollesley Bay without opportunity for outside work summarised in an epilogue References editExternal links editOfficial site of Jeffrey Archer Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title A Prison Diary amp oldid 1198050395, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
