The story is about Piper Kerman, a woman from Connecticut who ended up in prison for a year because she smuggled drug money into Europe. Piper Kerman graduated from a good college but she was bored and she wanted some adventure. She met a woman called Nora who promised to take her along in one of her trips around the world. Nora worked for an African drug dealer and she was making a lot of money. She took Piper in many of her trips just to keep her company. At some point, Nora gave Piper a bag of money and she told her to pass them through the airport in Brussels.
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Nora and Piper go separate ways. Piper gets a good job in New York and she meets a good man named Larry. Many years later the police shows up at her door. She finds out that Nora and her gang were on trial for smuggling drugs and that her name was also mentioned. She needs to go to trial. The trial was very complex and it took five years until it concluded and Piper was convicted to 15 months in prison.
Piper is locked up in a prison in Connecticut and she needs to learn how to survive prison on her own.
She slowly learns how to navigate the prison system, how to get a small job and how to keep her sanity intact. She befriends a lot of women and she observes the prison system form up close.
She runs every day and she learns how to do some basic yoga from one of her cellmates. She learns that she must keep busy and in good terms with the guards. As time goes by most of her friends get released and she misses them. She understands that the women are basically good persons caught up in a strange system.
When she is almost ready to be released herself she finds out that she needs to testify against yet another member of the old gang. She doesn't know the man and she asks to be spared the transfer to a Chicago prison but this is not possible. She gets transferred and the conditions in the Chicago prison are horrible. She meets Nora and she forgives her for involving her in the drug business and getting her in prison.
In the end, Piper gets released and she writes a book about the prison system and about the women that have to suffer through the ordeal of prison life.
Best part of story, including ending:
I learned a lot about life in prison.
Best scene in story:
I liked the scene where some women cooked a meal and ate together without fighting.
Opinion about the main character:
I liked Piper because she was strong.
