 "Prison
Girl"
by Wenzell Brown
Pyramid Books, 1958
The back cover reads: "THE SECRET
SOUNDS OF WOMEN DEPRIVED...Linda was not yet eighteen, yet this was her
life. The metallic clang of a cell door. The hysterical sobbing of a fellow
prisoner who had been beaten by a sadistic warder. Even when she slept
the gray life of prison crept around her. She heard the harsh voice of
a lady-lover warning her, 'What you need's an old woman to take care of
ya, so play it easy, kid, and be nice to me.' She saw the flash of a switchblade
and caught a glimpse of a face ripped and bleeding. Linda had been convicted
of no crime. She was in protective custody. Yet this was her life--this
was prison."
This book hit so many of the Bachelor's favorite
themes I don't know where to start. First, this is the classic good-girl-gone-bad
story with nice 1950's JD flavor--a junkie boyfriend, the Pachuco street
gang, and hipster lingo. But, there's so much more. There's the classic
crooked cop, the angelic parole officer, the queen con who runs the prison,
the good girl's nemesis, and the good girl's only friend in prison. Add
to that a prison lunchroom brawl, a jailbreak, lesbian undertones, and,
of course, the good girl's undying love for her Johnny, and you're in tawdry
paperback heaven. This book really is the best of both worlds--all the
thrills of a juicy JD story and all the titillation of all those classic
W.O.P (Women In Prison) tales.
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