What do you think?
Rate this book
No Second Chance: One Woman's True Story of Prison Life in Australia
No Second Chance is Maree French’s firsthand account of life as a female prisoner in the Queensland jail system. She tells the unvarnished truth about Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre, an overcrowded hellhole where women were caged together in cells built for one, or in un-policed group units, where violence was the accepted mode of communication.
Prepare for raw images of life behind the razor wire, where frightened women, some incarcerated for unpaid parking fines, were locked down with killers and hardened criminals. Maree lived daily with meth addicts and drug mules, women who had tortured animals, murdered in cold blood, or committed fraud, but she quickly learned that the greatest crime inside a prison is ‘dogging’ – reporting a fellow-inmate to the authorities.
Witness the brutality, filthy conditions, lousy food, cruel treatment of traumatised and mentally unstable women, and the desperate reality of entrapment – away from nature, family and everything that makes life worth living. You will go even deeper withing the prison system, to peek behind the strip search curtain, the locked doors, inside the medical unit, the gym, and slave labour shed.
Meet the ancillary and medical staff, visiting teachers, Christian ladies out to save souls, and, of course, the prison guards – the kind, the indifferent, and the few who really cared. Oddly enough, prison officers spend more of their time in prison than many of the offenders; in some circumstances, a prison officer and inmate may spend up to sixteen years together … yet be forever separated by the uniforms they wear.
But No Second Chance has a lighter side. When the author is eventually moved to Numinbah, a low security prison farm, the relative freedom allowed a glimpse of the real personalities of women who had held their guard high in harsher conditions. As the inmates settle into an environment without fences, coiled wire, or relentless monitoring, the reader is treated to some of the funniest prison episodes on record and will meet the most intriguing characters ever to be locked up together.
This highly entertaining book is an eye-opener. No Second Chance dispels the myth that prisoners have it too easy, or that Australia’s nursing home residents would be better off in jail. Discover just how unrealistic TV prison dramas are … and perhaps – just perhaps – you might question the rehabilitative and moral value of prisons in contemporary society.
Prepare for raw images of life behind the razor wire, where frightened women, some incarcerated for unpaid parking fines, were locked down with killers and hardened criminals. Maree lived daily with meth addicts and drug mules, women who had tortured animals, murdered in cold blood, or committed fraud, but she quickly learned that the greatest crime inside a prison is ‘dogging’ – reporting a fellow-inmate to the authorities.
Witness the brutality, filthy conditions, lousy food, cruel treatment of traumatised and mentally unstable women, and the desperate reality of entrapment – away from nature, family and everything that makes life worth living. You will go even deeper withing the prison system, to peek behind the strip search curtain, the locked doors, inside the medical unit, the gym, and slave labour shed.
Meet the ancillary and medical staff, visiting teachers, Christian ladies out to save souls, and, of course, the prison guards – the kind, the indifferent, and the few who really cared. Oddly enough, prison officers spend more of their time in prison than many of the offenders; in some circumstances, a prison officer and inmate may spend up to sixteen years together … yet be forever separated by the uniforms they wear.
But No Second Chance has a lighter side. When the author is eventually moved to Numinbah, a low security prison farm, the relative freedom allowed a glimpse of the real personalities of women who had held their guard high in harsher conditions. As the inmates settle into an environment without fences, coiled wire, or relentless monitoring, the reader is treated to some of the funniest prison episodes on record and will meet the most intriguing characters ever to be locked up together.
This highly entertaining book is an eye-opener. No Second Chance dispels the myth that prisoners have it too easy, or that Australia’s nursing home residents would be better off in jail. Discover just how unrealistic TV prison dramas are … and perhaps – just perhaps – you might question the rehabilitative and moral value of prisons in contemporary society.
417 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 23, 2024
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
March 4, 2024
Entertaining, humorous, enlightening, shocking. A must-read around what women go through in the prison system.
July 18, 2026
No Second Chance - Review by Gay M. Liddington, author and speaker
No Second Chance: One Woman’s True Story of Prison Life in Australia by Maree French tells of a woman’s determination to protect herself and her children despite the law. It’s a story of injustice, courage, and survival.
When a young mother's violent stalker goes after her children, she confronts him. In the author’s words, “When he went after my kids, I stood up to him … and the coward ran to the police. The abuser became the abused, and it worked for him.”
In between the trial and the retrial, Maree French went on the run. Arrested sixteen years later, she was prosecuted and sentenced to serve time in a high-security Queensland prison, where she quickly learned new ways of survival.
French’s raw honesty fired up my anger on many levels. I found myself thinking, am I really reading about our current prison system? The narrative held my interest. It took me into an unfamiliar environment and educated me.
The writer gives her fellow inmates character names and tells of her introduction to prison life: “Maybe they’re just so angry at the world. The colour on my ID tag identified me as a first timer. Emu may have assumed I came straight to prison from a soft bed. If she’d heard that I had spent sixteen years as a fugitive and had slept on the ground through torrential rain, under a sheet of tin leaning against a tree, or that I had been the victim of a savage stalker, and lost absolutely everything, including my identity, she may have treated me differently. But my past didn’t show in my face. And her past was hidden beneath her tough nut attitude, as well. I had no clue that her mother had spent years in prison … and I had no clue that Emu’s first stint in prison was as a baby emu.”
The stories of inmates continue to unfold: one arrested for parking fines, teenagers who had survived crimes against them, and others who had escaped domestic violence. French writes, “While I listened to their stories, I realised that women must keep talking, because it was silence that had allowed the abuse. It was the secrecy born of humiliation.”
She says, “I loved discovering the warmth, depth and humanity in my fellow inmates.”
No Second Chance: One Woman’s True Story of Prison Life in Australia confronts the reader and reminds us, “We need to re-examine our means of dealing with all manner of lesser crime, because the prison system is clearly a failure. It is neither a deterrent nor rehabilitation.”
Highly recommended.
No Second Chance: One Woman’s True Story of Prison Life in Australia by Maree French tells of a woman’s determination to protect herself and her children despite the law. It’s a story of injustice, courage, and survival.
When a young mother's violent stalker goes after her children, she confronts him. In the author’s words, “When he went after my kids, I stood up to him … and the coward ran to the police. The abuser became the abused, and it worked for him.”
In between the trial and the retrial, Maree French went on the run. Arrested sixteen years later, she was prosecuted and sentenced to serve time in a high-security Queensland prison, where she quickly learned new ways of survival.
French’s raw honesty fired up my anger on many levels. I found myself thinking, am I really reading about our current prison system? The narrative held my interest. It took me into an unfamiliar environment and educated me.
The writer gives her fellow inmates character names and tells of her introduction to prison life: “Maybe they’re just so angry at the world. The colour on my ID tag identified me as a first timer. Emu may have assumed I came straight to prison from a soft bed. If she’d heard that I had spent sixteen years as a fugitive and had slept on the ground through torrential rain, under a sheet of tin leaning against a tree, or that I had been the victim of a savage stalker, and lost absolutely everything, including my identity, she may have treated me differently. But my past didn’t show in my face. And her past was hidden beneath her tough nut attitude, as well. I had no clue that her mother had spent years in prison … and I had no clue that Emu’s first stint in prison was as a baby emu.”
The stories of inmates continue to unfold: one arrested for parking fines, teenagers who had survived crimes against them, and others who had escaped domestic violence. French writes, “While I listened to their stories, I realised that women must keep talking, because it was silence that had allowed the abuse. It was the secrecy born of humiliation.”
She says, “I loved discovering the warmth, depth and humanity in my fellow inmates.”
No Second Chance: One Woman’s True Story of Prison Life in Australia confronts the reader and reminds us, “We need to re-examine our means of dealing with all manner of lesser crime, because the prison system is clearly a failure. It is neither a deterrent nor rehabilitation.”
Highly recommended.
February 27, 2026
No Second Chance is a raw, eye-opening memoir that strips away the myths of prison life and replaces them with unfiltered truth. Maree French delivers a confronting yet deeply human account of survival inside a brutal system, blending shocking realities with moments of unexpected humor and resilience. It’s gritty, honest, and impossible to ignore. If you’re looking for a powerful true story that challenges what you think you know about life behind bars, this is a must-read.
October 19, 2023
Insightful and honest story of life as a female prisoner in the Queensland's Jail System.
The author weaves hardship and humour through her account of life on 'the inside'.
We learn that inmates are locked up for very light offences and their time in there isn't easy.
Maree has a technique to take the reader on a visual and emotional journey. Loved this book, but got to the end too fast.
The author weaves hardship and humour through her account of life on 'the inside'.
We learn that inmates are locked up for very light offences and their time in there isn't easy.
Maree has a technique to take the reader on a visual and emotional journey. Loved this book, but got to the end too fast.
June 9, 2026
Wow! Maree has such a talent for painting the scene, she draws you in with her witty and entertaining writing about something so absolutely horrendous. I cannot wait for her next book, I couldn't put this book down. Was well worth reading and my mind was blown at what women in Correctional Centre's have to endure, thank you Maree French for a very witty, eye opener but also very entertaining.
June 4, 2026
Read this last year and forgot to rate it. Very insightful.
June 26, 2026
I loved the honesty in this story and the way Maree writes is lovely and makes it easy to picture the scene. I'm looking forward to her next book about her 20 years on the run
December 21, 2023
There are not many books that take you into the gritty reality of prison life in Australia. But there need to be such books - so people will understand.
Maree French was incarcerated for 10 months in women’s prisons in Queensland. Her book is a graphic account of how she survived her time “inside”, first in the Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre, then in Numinbah prison farm.
It’s a confronting journey. We see up close the brutal reality of over-crowding (“With two women forced to share a cell, only one could stand at any given time”). Then there is the erosion of privacy (“not a single moment to oneself, to reflect, to release the overwhelming grief, to curl up in a ball and sob”). Worst of all, perhaps, is the “casual belittling” of already-broken women. And the crazy-making backdrop of relentless (and frequently pointless) noise.
Maree’s skill as a writer is her ability to take you into this world. So vivid and visceral is her description, that I felt as though I was in her cell with her – gritting my teeth and literally counting down the days.
Armed with a writing pad, a wry sense of humour and enormous stores of courage, Maree is able to find a way to survive. We see the small sparks of humanity, the “dangerous acts of kindness” from other inmates and the small routines that help to sustain Maree through long nights and longer days.
Along the way, there are some laugh-out-loud moments, like the tyre-flipping “fitness classes”. And the awful Xmas with the well-meaning Christian ladies. (What were they thinking? Or perhaps they weren't).
There is much to learn from this book. One thing that really hit home for me was how completely unsuitable (and harmful) the prison environment is for women who have experienced trauma. An overwhelming majority of women in prison are victims of domestic violence. Many have been physically, sexually or emotionally abused as children or adults. As any psychologist will tell you, no one can begin to recover from trauma unless they feel safe. Yet in prison, women suffering post-traumatic stress disorder are forced to live in an atmosphere of uncertainty and simmering violence. There has to be a better way.
Maree emerges from her time “inside” with grace, dignity and a powerful story to tell. Hopefully, it’s a story that will drive change.
This book is a must read for anyone who has anything to do with the criminal justice system. I only wish I’d been able to read it when I was a lawyer representing people in prison. Back then, I had no concept at all of what life was like for my clients. Thanks to Maree’s book, I can now start to understand.
Maree French was incarcerated for 10 months in women’s prisons in Queensland. Her book is a graphic account of how she survived her time “inside”, first in the Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre, then in Numinbah prison farm.
It’s a confronting journey. We see up close the brutal reality of over-crowding (“With two women forced to share a cell, only one could stand at any given time”). Then there is the erosion of privacy (“not a single moment to oneself, to reflect, to release the overwhelming grief, to curl up in a ball and sob”). Worst of all, perhaps, is the “casual belittling” of already-broken women. And the crazy-making backdrop of relentless (and frequently pointless) noise.
Maree’s skill as a writer is her ability to take you into this world. So vivid and visceral is her description, that I felt as though I was in her cell with her – gritting my teeth and literally counting down the days.
Armed with a writing pad, a wry sense of humour and enormous stores of courage, Maree is able to find a way to survive. We see the small sparks of humanity, the “dangerous acts of kindness” from other inmates and the small routines that help to sustain Maree through long nights and longer days.
Along the way, there are some laugh-out-loud moments, like the tyre-flipping “fitness classes”. And the awful Xmas with the well-meaning Christian ladies. (What were they thinking? Or perhaps they weren't).
There is much to learn from this book. One thing that really hit home for me was how completely unsuitable (and harmful) the prison environment is for women who have experienced trauma. An overwhelming majority of women in prison are victims of domestic violence. Many have been physically, sexually or emotionally abused as children or adults. As any psychologist will tell you, no one can begin to recover from trauma unless they feel safe. Yet in prison, women suffering post-traumatic stress disorder are forced to live in an atmosphere of uncertainty and simmering violence. There has to be a better way.
Maree emerges from her time “inside” with grace, dignity and a powerful story to tell. Hopefully, it’s a story that will drive change.
This book is a must read for anyone who has anything to do with the criminal justice system. I only wish I’d been able to read it when I was a lawyer representing people in prison. Back then, I had no concept at all of what life was like for my clients. Thanks to Maree’s book, I can now start to understand.
February 3, 2024
I started reading this book as excerpts in a FaceBook group I belong to. Maree French first caught my attention with her photo of living in her camper van and parking by a beach. An inviting scene complete with a story.
When this book came to Kindle, I re-read the first 3 chapters to centre myself and then dove in. I had not expected this book to be as excellent as it was, I did not expect that it would keep me entranced throughout the story to the end. Maree's experiences in prison were not much different than watching episodes of 'Wentworth', which I was once addicted to - but to be in the head of the lead character made it so much stronger.
I loved that she did not focus on the violence or the filth or the cruelty. I loved that she told us a complete story - of waiting to judge a woman until she could look into her eyes and see into her heart - of pausing before reacting - of trying to remain vegetarian and healthy in an environment that did not espouse good clean health. The vinyl mattresses and pillows, the petty thefts, the rules that stopped any kind of fun or building relationships. The hardship and heartache of the abrupt changes of living spaces. The appreciation of a bucket. The brilliance of how to keep your clothes clean and decent smelling... a number of small tricks that she was able to concoct to maintain her sanity.
It was heartbreaking to read of women's pain. Of being targeted for any of many reasons if you are poor, are black or brown, have mental health issues. Maree is a phenomenal voice for women behind bars - or not barred on the farm. Her story is as real as can be, her strength is indomitable and her observations are crystal clear. This book opened my eyes and my heart. She made women behind bars human. And it hurt. But her humour, her invention of names to protect the innocent - her bravery - still remains past the closing of the book cover.
When this book came to Kindle, I re-read the first 3 chapters to centre myself and then dove in. I had not expected this book to be as excellent as it was, I did not expect that it would keep me entranced throughout the story to the end. Maree's experiences in prison were not much different than watching episodes of 'Wentworth', which I was once addicted to - but to be in the head of the lead character made it so much stronger.
I loved that she did not focus on the violence or the filth or the cruelty. I loved that she told us a complete story - of waiting to judge a woman until she could look into her eyes and see into her heart - of pausing before reacting - of trying to remain vegetarian and healthy in an environment that did not espouse good clean health. The vinyl mattresses and pillows, the petty thefts, the rules that stopped any kind of fun or building relationships. The hardship and heartache of the abrupt changes of living spaces. The appreciation of a bucket. The brilliance of how to keep your clothes clean and decent smelling... a number of small tricks that she was able to concoct to maintain her sanity.
It was heartbreaking to read of women's pain. Of being targeted for any of many reasons if you are poor, are black or brown, have mental health issues. Maree is a phenomenal voice for women behind bars - or not barred on the farm. Her story is as real as can be, her strength is indomitable and her observations are crystal clear. This book opened my eyes and my heart. She made women behind bars human. And it hurt. But her humour, her invention of names to protect the innocent - her bravery - still remains past the closing of the book cover.
June 21, 2026
I came across Maree French after reading a piece on The Pineapple about the kindness of strangers. When I learned that she had written a book, I ordered one and less than a week later received my signed copy of 'No Second Chances.'
It is a book about the time she spent incarcerated in both high and low security women’s prisons in Queensland from 2016 -2017. It is a fascinating and sobering glimpse into life behind bars and is very different from what I imagined. French’s writing draws you in you. You get to know the colourful characters she is forced to share her life and feel genuine sadness when someone leaves and a friendship is lost. Her anecdotes are poignant, funny and paint a grim picture of what it means to lose agency, to have life’s small pleasures stripped away and every freedom curtailed, including privacy.
Society is obsessed with crime while harsh punishment is the focus of political discourse despite evidence that cruelty rarely leads to the desired outcomes of remorse and rehabilitation. French’s book is a reminder that the women most likely to end up in the prison system have often experienced significant trauma and abuse or have mental health issues.
As inevitably occurs when a group of people are forced together, there is a Lord of the Flies hierarchy with justice metered out not only by prison guards but by fellow inmates. A code of silence protects bullies with cycles of abuse and power perpetuated. One of the most poignant paragraphs in the book followed systematic provocation by a fellow prisoner. ‘No one cared what happened to me. My silence had dealt me this blow. The same silence that is habitual for women the world over. There is no one to tell and no one willing to help us. We were trapped in abusive relationships, be they our husbands, our bosses, our stalkers, or our own fathers. Society doesn’t want to know.’
When you read French’s account, you are forced to consider what we want from our prison system. Do we want to rehabilitate offenders and prepare them for life beyond the bars, or do we release people angry, disillusioned, anti-social and likely to reoffend. It also asks, who should be in prison in the first place? The book leaves you with important questions and invites the reader to consider what makes for an integrated, just and safe society.
It is a book about the time she spent incarcerated in both high and low security women’s prisons in Queensland from 2016 -2017. It is a fascinating and sobering glimpse into life behind bars and is very different from what I imagined. French’s writing draws you in you. You get to know the colourful characters she is forced to share her life and feel genuine sadness when someone leaves and a friendship is lost. Her anecdotes are poignant, funny and paint a grim picture of what it means to lose agency, to have life’s small pleasures stripped away and every freedom curtailed, including privacy.
Society is obsessed with crime while harsh punishment is the focus of political discourse despite evidence that cruelty rarely leads to the desired outcomes of remorse and rehabilitation. French’s book is a reminder that the women most likely to end up in the prison system have often experienced significant trauma and abuse or have mental health issues.
As inevitably occurs when a group of people are forced together, there is a Lord of the Flies hierarchy with justice metered out not only by prison guards but by fellow inmates. A code of silence protects bullies with cycles of abuse and power perpetuated. One of the most poignant paragraphs in the book followed systematic provocation by a fellow prisoner. ‘No one cared what happened to me. My silence had dealt me this blow. The same silence that is habitual for women the world over. There is no one to tell and no one willing to help us. We were trapped in abusive relationships, be they our husbands, our bosses, our stalkers, or our own fathers. Society doesn’t want to know.’
When you read French’s account, you are forced to consider what we want from our prison system. Do we want to rehabilitate offenders and prepare them for life beyond the bars, or do we release people angry, disillusioned, anti-social and likely to reoffend. It also asks, who should be in prison in the first place? The book leaves you with important questions and invites the reader to consider what makes for an integrated, just and safe society.
March 13, 2026
No Second Chance is one of the most honest and compelling memoirs about prison life I’ve read. Maree French writes with remarkable clarity, allowing readers to witness both the brutality of the system and the humanity of the women living within it.
The transition to the prison farm at Numinbah added a fascinating perspective, showing how environment can shape behavior and reveal people’s true personalities. It reminded me how much freedom, dignity, and opportunity can influence personal change.
An insightful, thought-provoking book that offers a rare and unforgettable look behind prison walls.
The transition to the prison farm at Numinbah added a fascinating perspective, showing how environment can shape behavior and reveal people’s true personalities. It reminded me how much freedom, dignity, and opportunity can influence personal change.
An insightful, thought-provoking book that offers a rare and unforgettable look behind prison walls.
October 31, 2023
Prison life is a fascinating and suffocating topic to think about.
The helplessness and complete deprivation of freedom or privacy drains my energy just to imagine - and sometimes, people have these liberties taken away for things that, in my opinion, should go unpunished, or even be applauded. Not everyone inside is an evil, terrible animal - and not everyone outside is a pure, pleasant ray of sunshine, either.
Through storytelling, the author is able to describe what prison life is like and skillfully depicts the quirky, sometimes dangerous, and often funny situations and character traits of prisoners, too.
An enjoyable read that had me feeling upset and angry at times, and laughing out loud at other times.
I look forward to reading the prequel about the years leading up to this prison life experience.
The helplessness and complete deprivation of freedom or privacy drains my energy just to imagine - and sometimes, people have these liberties taken away for things that, in my opinion, should go unpunished, or even be applauded. Not everyone inside is an evil, terrible animal - and not everyone outside is a pure, pleasant ray of sunshine, either.
Through storytelling, the author is able to describe what prison life is like and skillfully depicts the quirky, sometimes dangerous, and often funny situations and character traits of prisoners, too.
An enjoyable read that had me feeling upset and angry at times, and laughing out loud at other times.
I look forward to reading the prequel about the years leading up to this prison life experience.
May 19, 2026
Second Chance: One Woman's True Story of Prison Life in Australia is a deeply moving and powerful true story that offers an honest look into prison life, resilience, and personal transformation. The author’s courage in sharing such raw experiences makes the memoir both emotional and inspiring. I was captivated by the authenticity, strength, and hope woven throughout the story. It’s an eye-opening and unforgettable read that leaves a lasting impact. Truly a remarkable and meaningful boo
February 16, 2026
Marees book offers a raw firsthand account of a system whose stories aren’t often out to paper, in a way that is both informative and keeps you interested. She has her own voice which not only makes the story flow and keeps your attention, but lends itself like listening behind the walls of something you’re not supposed to know about!
A great read and it has me eagerly awaiting her next book
A great read and it has me eagerly awaiting her next book
May 20, 2026
Raw and real
I was led to Maree's book through an article about her journey with homelessness.
What a back story!
No Second Chance provides a rare window into the female prison system in Queensland.
Lines are drawn, limits are reached and lifelong alliances formed.
Well-written and definitely worth a read.
I was led to Maree's book through an article about her journey with homelessness.
What a back story!
No Second Chance provides a rare window into the female prison system in Queensland.
Lines are drawn, limits are reached and lifelong alliances formed.
Well-written and definitely worth a read.
May 19, 2026
A great read. Funny, heartbreaking, and then funny again, all bundled into one.
And insightful into a workld that most of us never see.
Can't wait for the next book! :)
And insightful into a workld that most of us never see.
Can't wait for the next book! :)
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews