I absolutely loved this book. The way it was written made me feel like I was part of the story, everything that happened in the prison happened to me, and made me think a little bit different about what I think of prisons and wardens. Well written and highly recommended.
TB

Eye opening, fly on the wall account of the prison system and the challenges the prison staff face, including their interactions with the police force.

This book is a fly on the wall tale of life in a prison working as a governor.
This book was hard hitting in parts and showed what prison staff go through on a day to day basis.

A well written book

I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

An access-all-areas pass for all the day-to-day occurrences that go on at HMP Wormwood Scrubs told by the woman at the helm for a number of years. Speaking of her experiences and of the people and cases that she remembers while being one of the Governors, Frake fills the narrative with fascinating, terrifying and gripping detail which cemented my already burgeoning belief that I would be no good in prison and being surrounded by the likes of these career criminals and psychopaths would surely impact anyone's mental health who happens to be reasonably sane. I can never have too much insight into the lives of criminals and/or prisoners as it is just absolutely riveting to me, and this book does it well.

Really enjoy this book. Vanessa is proof that females can make it in a very make dominated industry. She shows us that with determination, drive that you can climb the ladder. It certainly wasn’t easy.
Highly recommend this book. I throughly enjoyed it.

I really enjoy reading books that give an insight into the prison and legal system within the UK
I have seen Vanessa Frake interviewed on tv and in numerous prison documentaries that I have seen.
I was delighted to receive a copy of her book and very excited to read.
Whilst I enjoyed this book, it did not live up to the expectation that I though it was going to. It was almost as though most things are okay in the prison system. A lot of the time that readers pick up books such as these is because we want to read the bad things.
It is a good insight, but not as gritty as I hoped.

Loved this book. Lots of interesting information to digest. This is a great read for anyone who loves to read about true life. Very well written

Really enjoyed this book, gives a great insight into life as a governor. Can certainly relate to some of the experiences having a law enforcement background. Very well written.

Now as a MASSIVE fan of true crime and prison biographies this was a must read for me!

The author Vanessa Frake was a Prison Officer rising to Governor in two of the UKs most notorious prisons with a career spanning 27 years. This book reveals the real nitty gritty of prison work, what an officer really has to deal with on a day to day basis and the emotions they have to deal with.

Vanessa shares some of her experiences including some with more well known criminal's such as serial killers Rose West and Myra Hindley. A behind the scenes memoir that is so engaging, enlightening, harrowing at times and unforgettable.

One thing I absolutely loved about this book is that Vanessa seems to speak/write freely. You may not personally agree with her opinions or views but she owns them and isn't afraid to voice them. After what she has dealt with in her career who can blame her, shes has seen and dealt with things some people could never comprehend.

The no nonsense 'tell it how it is' writing style really spoke to me. As a really open honest person there is nothing better than reading the truth. Yes it may be a controversial style but personally I loved it.

There are some great 'characters' that the author has really brought to life on page, at times with humour and also being able to bring in the real hard hitting serious issues that effect prisoners and staff even now.

I honestly can't recommend this enough.

Huge thanks to netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the ARC.

I love books about interesting jobs and the people that do them. I feel this book comes to an already saturated “prison jobs” market and offered nothing more than its peers.

The more I read this book the more I really liked the author. She has such a way of writing it felt like I was having a chat with a friend.

Such an interesting book and great to learn more about the prison service and how it worked over the years and very eye opening.

What a fascinating professional memoir The Governor is. It really was exactly what I was hoping it would be. In The Governor, Vanessa tells us about her time working in British prisons, climbing the career ladder, and some of the prisoners she has worked with, including meeting Rose West! The whole book is written in such an interesting and engaging way that I was absolutely gripped and couldn't put it down. I loved the anecdotes of her real life experiences throughout providing insight into what prison life is like for those who choose to work there. What I also particularly loved was Vanessa's approach to dealing with those who have committed offences that people would normally deem as the worst of the worst. She managed to get the right balance of being fair and non-judgemental yet doesn't come across as disregarding of their crimes or being disrespectful to the victims / families. I enjoyed learning about the processes in Prisons and how things get done, including the times when the process and red tape are frustrating and negatively affect the staff's already difficult job. A good mix of sad and humorous stories coupled with an engaging writing style meant that I couldn't put the book down!
I highly recommend this book for anyone who is a fan of true crime and has a curiosity about the workings of prisons.

The Governor by Vanessa Frake this is a true story of Vanessa's life inside Britain’s most notorious prisons: Vanessa's Life Inside Britain’s Most Notorious Jails and WOW what a brilliant book this was. Vanessa was as a prison officer at two of the UK’s most notorious prisons in her career spanning some 27 years, eventually attaining the rank of Governor. Well Done Vanessa. x

This is a very different book I would of read and chosen but, I am so glad I did......WoW

5 stars for the book. I Highly recommend if you like crime books/prison books!

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, Nonfiction for the arc of The Governor by Vanessa Frake. for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

The Governor is a great insight into the workings of our prisons and just what the staff have to endure, written with a touch of humour it’s really an eye opener and Vanessa Frake also gives us an insight into her private life as well and how she coped with life after she retired.To anyone who enjoys this type of book I can recommend this one it really is a great read.

This was a really interesting book. I really enjoyed the fact that it talks of the successful career of a woman in a male dominated sector, which is very inspiring and shows what can be done, although it is clear that Vanessa's journey has not been an easy one. The book talks about important aspects of prison life, and situations that arise, many of which I did not have a clue about. Vanessa provides her own story but also the overlap with events and people that everyone will recognise. This is definitely a book for those interested in true crime, but also looking for a different point of view to the prison system.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, Nonfiction for the arc of The Governor by Vanessa Frake.

4 star read- this follows the author Vanessa whom was a prison officer at two of the UK's most notorious prisons.. wow! then she worked her way up to eventually becoming Governor!! thats an amazing achievement! She has been in this line of work/career for 27 whole years. This is her true story spanning her real life experiences to what it was like knowing you was responsible for some of the UK's most dangerous and famous high profile criminals!

This was such a compelling and interesting book! Highly recommend if you like crime books/prison books!

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was drawn to this book with the description. I didn't know Vanessa frakes story before I read this book.

The book is well written and gives a brilliant insight to prison life.
Vanessa has the same principles you get out what you put in. The respect she had from prisoners and staff shone throughout the book. The career she had was brilliantly written, I was hooked by the first few pages. I couldn't put the book down. Maybe one day I will sample her cakes.

I would highly recommend this book

Told in a chatty, almost ‘pally with the reader’ way this book was as expected, a huge insight into the world of prisons, mainly Holloway where her 27 year career starts and Wormwood Scrubs where it ends, along the way we discover/hear all about every aspect of her job and prison life and her dealings with the likes of Hindley and West amongst others, there is no doubting her love for the job and her commitment to it and the detail we are given is impressive and stories ranging from escapes to drug dealing inside, bent officers and political wranglings re the service keep you hooked and page turning
I did find her narration slightly irritating at times, she obviously did very well in her career and is unshy of saying so and not afraid of telling you her many successes but then I told myself she has every right to be after what she has done/seen/endured and achieved, still at times it wears thin
I refused to believe her faux squeamishness and farcical horror re anything to do with prisoners nether regions, be it medical or bringing mobiles/drugs in and it was overdone to the point of overkill ( running out of examinations, feeling sick, shuddering etc )
One thing, and I have thought hard about mentioning it, that I found odd was she had a time of PTSD after reading about a prisoners crime, it being so horrific it played on her mind so much, now I wont mention the crime but without warning she did, yes after reading a few words I and any other reader could then skim over the rest ( which I did ) but obviously I had already got the jist of the crime, it seemed odd to me that her reading about it had given her PTSD yet there it was being relayed to the reader who then could also suffer from reading it, hope that makes sense?, I am not a one for trigger warnings or being over sensitive but in this case maybe one was needed before these few paragraphs
It all ended with a whimper tbh after her award from the Queen and I felt quite sorry for her the way she was treated after her allegiance to the service for almost 3 decades but she does seem happier now and working as a cake maker in a cafe in Essex
Definitely eye opening and without doubt memoirs that needed to be told, as much for the author as for us

8/10
4 Stars

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. I generally really enjoy books in this genre, and this was equally fascinating. It was interesting to see the day to day life in a prison, although her references to real, identifiable prisoners made me uncomfortable - although of course the public knows the stories of people such as Rose West, I felt that confidentiality should still be abided by by odudobsd staff. I also found the writing style quite clunky at times, with facts being repeated after only a few pages. However, it was an easy and interesting read.