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Guest Author Post: June Francis on the little things you discover doing research…

Friday, February 11th, 2011

I’ve been doing some research for my next novel and I’ve just read a book called Who Lie in Gaol, by Joan Henry.  A week ago I didn’t even know this book existed but as I Googled a film released in 1954 called the Weak and the Wicked I discovered that it was based on the experiences of a woman called Joan Henry. The title of the book comes from The Ballad of Reading Gaol written by Oscar Wilde. Why did I feel compelled to seek out this particular book published in 1952?  It wasn’t because my book is set in a women’s prison but I do have three members of the family of my heroine in the police force and her grandmother was once a prison wardress. It always helps to get as much background information as you can even if only a tiny bit goes into the book, if any.

I read Who Lie in Gaol in one day because I got hooked straight away on Joan’s narrative of her time in prison. She did not tell you why she was committed to prison but the synopsis of the film says that the heroine had a gambling habit and I presume she was either committed for theft or fraud, although she pleaded Not Guilty. She tells the reader that much. I learnt much about the conditions in Holloway prison and of the very first open air women’s prison, but, of course, it was the women who peopled the pages who fascinated me the most. How they coped, felt and behaved and also the reasons why they were committed in the first place.

One thing I discovered that surprised me was that most of those in prison never served their full sentence as long as they behaved themselves. I thought that remission for good behaviour was something much more recent than the fifties. Joan served eight months of a year’s sentence.  So it was worth reading the book just to learn that nugget of information.

June Francis

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June Francis’ book Sunshine & Showers was last month’s Book Club Choice – read a Q&A with the author here.
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