She only did this a handful of times, then wised up to what she was doing and fled back to San Francisco. Heartbreaking, hilarious, and at times enraging, Kerman’s story offers a rare look into the lives of women in prison-why it is we lock so many away and what happens to them when they’re there.įor the OITNB uninitiated: Piper Kerman (Chapman, in the show) helped her then-girlfriend, Nora, smuggle drugs into the U.S. She meets women from all walks of life, who surprise her with small tokens of generosity, hard words of wisdom, and simple acts of acceptance. From her first strip search to her final release, Kerman learns to navigate this strange world with its strictly enforced codes of behavior and arbitrary rules. Convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at the infamous federal correctional facility in Danbury, Connecticut, the well-heeled Smith College alumna is now inmate #11187–424-one of the millions of people who disappear “down the rabbit hole” of the American penal system.

With a career, a boyfriend, and a loving family, Piper Kerman barely resembles the reckless young woman who delivered a suitcase of drug money ten years before. Taylor Schilling (Piper Chapman on OITNB) and The verdict is that it's quite different, but you can tell from the book which characters have been adapted for the TV show and which relationships are solely fiction, which was definitely interesting.

I recently became addicted to started watching Orange is the New Black on Netflix, and I was curious to see how different the memoir, which had inspired the show, is from the TV series. This was not how minimum-security camps had been described this didn't look at all like 'Club Fed.' This was scaring the crap out of me. I stepped through again, wire mesh and barbed metal soaring all around me. I looked back over my shoulder at the free world. The fence had multiple layers between each layer was a gate through which we had to be buzzed. She led me out the door Larry had just exited from, turning right and walking along that vicious, towering fence.

Piper kerman catherine cleary wolters