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Families Behind Bars by Kay DanesKay Danes, an Australian who was falsely arrested and detained for gem theft in Laos, has told her horrific battle of endurance in her previous book Deliver Us from Evil.Published 1 May, 2008 
Families Behind Bars (Kay Danes, New Holland, $29.95 pb, ISBN 9781741106466, May) *** Kay Danes, an Australian who was falsely arrested and detained for gem theft in Laos, has told her horrific battle of endurance in her previous book Deliver Us from Evil. Now a prominent social justice ambassador, in this new book she delves deeper to disclose the sufferings and strength of others detained in foreign prisons and the stories of their family’s struggles. Danes has an authoritative voice filled with passion, and she has a personal involvement in many of the cases in the book, which include those of Schapelle Corby and the Bali 9. The aims of the book are obvious as she says she wishes to use her experiences ‘to help create awareness about injustice, social issues, personal safety and overcoming adversity.’ However, the book’s heavy early focus on the legalities of detainment, written in a clinical, bureaucratic voice, affects its readability, as we don’t connect emotionally with the information. There are so many short stories with so few details, readers are swamped, and it’s hard to build empathy. The audience the book would most appeal to is those in a similar ituation of detainment and their families; this is made very evident by the constant advice for ‘other families’ mentioned throughout. Lucy Meredith is a casual bookseller for Angus and Robertson and a freelance writer This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker More from Non-Fiction Book Reviews
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I have to disagree with Lucy Meredith in her review of this book. I was given a copy by a friend and I found many of the stories to be quite horrifying. I have been a strong supporter of the Aggett family. Jody spent six years in the Bangkok prison for a crime he didn't commit. He was finally aquitted but the pain his family went through was unimaginable. Kay included their story in the book and it really hit home to me just how fragile our lives are. I think Meredith should go and read it again. If she thinks it didn't have emotion in it then I can't understand what sort of person she is. Perhaps she is too hardened as a journalist to see the pain that Kay's writing was revealing. I imagine that she didn't want to over expose the families and actually it was good that Kay didn't over dramatise the stories as most writers do. We live in a country that provides great opportunities for all but my God, who would ever believe that half this stuff actuall happens. Great book! Well worth reading.
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