Sentenced

Sentenced is a memoir written by two apparently vastly different people; Victoria Oak, a London housewife with four children and Andrew Hawke, a British man  imprisoned in a notorious jail in Thailand. The ironically named Bangkok Hilton. Or, to use its correct name, the Bang Kwang gaol.

Victoria was travelling with her friends Alex and Alice, backpacking around the world. After five months of travelling they reached Bangkok. A 19-year-old British man called Michael hade tried to smuggle 3,000 pills out of Bangkok. Of course, he'd been caught and had been given a life sentence. Because his parents didn't have the financial resources to fly out to Thailand to visit him, they'd asked two British girls to visit him.

However, due to a mix-up they weren't able to meet him and they had asked Victoria and her friends to visit him in their stead. 

Victoria, Alex and Alice decided the next morning to make an impromptu visit to Michael, but as they'd arrived on the wrong day they were unable to see him as it was the visiting day of a different block. But without knowing the name of a particular prisoner, they wouldn't be allowed in.

Victoria decided to 'phone the British Consulate for advice and the extremely helpful receptionist there quickly gave them the names of three British prisoners who were being held there. 

So, they decided to visit one of the British prisoners who was being held there. The prisoner Victoria spoke with for that hour, the hour that proved to be very fateful for both of them, soon passed.

When Victoria returned home they began to correspond with each other in long, detailed letters. And this was the start of a lifelong relationship.

Victoria studied drama and English at Birmingham University and she married, became a housewife and had four children.

Victoria and her husband shared several passions, the chief ones being travelling and sports.

Victoria was able to complete the pilgrimage to Santiago in May 2012 and placed 2,000 prayer stones along the Camino asking for her friend Andy to be released from his incarceration.  

She had realised that her marriage had faltered and, in her mind, died, so when she returned she asked for a divorce. But this wasn't to be an easy, simple divorce, because it became a wearying five-year fight through the courts.

During this dreadful time Andy was released from jail and came to stay with Victoria at her home for almost two years. And during this time they collaborated together to write Sentenced. 

After her divorce Victoria took time out to do some more exploring, in South America, New Zealand and Australia.

Victoria then spent four years editing the manuscript, preparing it for publication. Just before the world was virtually shut down by COVID, she contracted pneumonia and Lyme's disease which left her weak and hardly able to function, this debilitation gave her the impetuous to get Sentenced ready folr publication within a year. Which she did.

It's a remarkable book well-written telling the life stories of two remarkable people and other people in their lives. It is also illustrated with a collection of photographs.

It's published by Grosvenor House Publishing at £10 in paperback, plus as an e-book. 

It's available from good book retailers and Amazon and will make an excellent Christmas gift.