The Governor
My Life Inside Britain’s Most Notorious Prisons
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The Governor
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Narrated by:
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Vanessa Frake
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By:
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Vanessa Frake
About this listen
The Sunday Times top 10 best seller.
As seen on This Morning.
Back in the day, I was governor of security and operations for HMP Wormwood Scrubs. If you’re easily shocked or offended, you best look away now....
Having worked for 16 years in a high-security women’s prison dealing with the likes of Rosemary West and Myra Hindley, Vanessa Frake thought she’d seen it all. That was until she was transferred to the notorious Wormwood Scrubs.
Thrust into a ‘man’s world’, her no-nonsense approach and fearless attitude saw her swiftly rise through the ranks. From dealing with celebrity criminals and busting drug rings, to recruiting informers and being subject to violent attacks, this hard-hitting but often humorous memoir reveals all about life behind bars in unflinching detail.
Now, for one last time, the Gov opens the prison gates. Prepare for the madness and horror of daily life with the UK’s most ruthless criminals.
©2021 Vanessa Frake (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Governor
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Audible Customer
- 04-09-21
Enjoyable!
we'll narrated Autobiography of life in the prison service most of us ignore and wouldn't even contemplate as a career. These people are heroes doing an unpleasant job. Vanessa shines some light on the darkness of penal institutions. To some extent she brushes over her PTSD and her life post prisons, but on reflection strikes the right balance. A recommended title for crime buffs!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 22-05-21
Thoroughly interesting and touching story
I found this story both fascinating and touching a very honest and enlightening insight into British prisons and the people that they house.
Highly recommend
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- John wright
- 09-07-21
Good book
I thought it wouldn’t be all that at first, I was wrong , I’m glad I listened to it
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 20-05-21
My First Audible
entertaining and great story. i really enjoyed this. my first audible, loved it enjoy
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 17-05-21
Brill
Really informative and brilliantly read by author!
Mirrored many of my experiences in HMP!
Enjoyed it.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- M. Mossman
- 05-06-22
Bad narration
It was a good book, however they could have got a narrator who wasn’t mono syllabic.
The author was definitely not the best choice to read this book.
Otherwise it was a good story of her life & career.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- N. Calvaresi
- 11-11-22
An Incredible Story!
I actually know Vanessa. She brings her gorgeous dogs to me for dog training. I’ve always thought she was lovely, really down to earth and a we have a great laugh, but I never imagined that she had had such an incredible and interesting story to tell!
We’d been chatting in one of our training sessions about this and that, and it came up in passing that I was a big fan of the true crime genre. She said “Really? You might like my book then!” To say I was intrigued was an understatement! I ordered it off Amazon that very second and then later saw it was also on Audible with her narration. I much preferred her narration because I already knew her and it made a huge difference hearing her tell it.
Such an interesting career and so many proud achievements!
I’m quite proud to know her! She’s my new celebrity!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Susan
- 03-05-22
A real insight to prison life
I really enjoyed this book and whilst Vanessa’s reading is sometimes a bit faulting, she’s not a profession reader or actress, she’s reading her own book as she remembers it. I found it fascinating all the things the prisoners got up to.
I’ve listened to this book many times. One of my favourites. Would highly recommend
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- H. Anderton
- 04-10-23
VERY ACCURATE
Having spent 20 years working for HMPS at the same time as Vanessa I can attest to it being an an accurate reflection of prison life at that time. It was a great trip down memory lane for me.
One fault though, the narration is sadly lacking. Personally I think she’d have been paying for an experienced narrator.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- joan foster
- 09-11-23
reverting
a real eye opener wonderful read its a good job there are people with the determination to make things right they are really needed in the world today
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