Inside Out: An Incredible Friendship and Fight for Justice

by Kathleen Folbigg, Morrissey, Tracy Chapman

In 2003 Kathleen Folbigg was convicted of killing her four babies. Her trial relied on her husband’s accusations and diary entries expressing her guilt over her children’s deaths. She was sentenced to forty years in prison.

In Inside Out Kathleen takes us back to her traumatic childhood, her difficult marriage, her dream of nurturing a family, and the profound souring of that dream into a nightmare.

This is also , however, a story of unwavering friendship and resilience. Tracy Chapman and Kathleen were close at school. After Kathleen was jailed, Tracy renewed contact and, convinced her friend could never have committed such crimes, began advocating for her with extraordinary tenacity. She never doubted Kathleen’s innocence, relentlessly petitioning for new evidence to be examined, and for a new approach to be taken as doubts about the safety of the conviction grew among scientists and the legal community.

Ultimately, these two women together faced down a misogynistic justice system and forged a friendship that supported Kathleen as she endured the trauma of the prison system. And finally, after many devastating setbacks, came the leaps forward needed to overturn one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in Australia’s in 2023 Kathleen was released, pardoned and exonerated.

For the first time, in Inside Out Kathleen lays bare her time in prison, her life before she was wrongfully accused, and her hopes for the future; while Tracy describes with passion and insight the fight she took up to help to free her friend, and shares her hopes that their story will prevent other women from suffering as Kath did over those long twenty years.

483 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 2, 2025

Reviews

[EmG ReadsDaily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fight for justice reform, with courage and compassion.

[Linda Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahhhhhh The lengths woman have to go through for justice!! I know that’s a sweeping statement but god forbid when history doth repeat itself….. incessantly!

I remember when this all went down and having lost a child to ‘cot death’ and having to understand that an autopsy was going to happen I was absolutely mortified and argued the toss about it to no avail. When Folbiggs case was cracking the headlines, I wondered at the court’s investigations bc there were no signs of suffocation. So how did she actually murder 4 kids over so many years without recourse?
Was Folbigg the victim of the media?

The Narrative was a very well put together read; a page turner that flowed with ease.

And Kathleen, If you’re reading this … I’m sorry you had to endure such an horrendous ordeal, on top of that ‘forever grieving’ that a mother has for their lost souls for the rest of her life!
Here’s to a great rest of YOUR life! You deserve every long minute of Peace, Joy and Happiness🌹♥️🌹

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

INSIDE OUT by Kathleen Folbigg & Tracy Chapman is published by Penguin Random House Australia in September 2025
Review by Lorraine Parker
Inside Out is so aptly named. It is the of memoir of Kathleen and her very long, painful and confronting journey from marriage, babies, inside prison walls and finally out. The memories of Tracy intertwine and support Kathleen’s story, often filling missing pieces, giving perspective and understanding. It is also an account that belongs to Tracy Chapman’s life. For me, it is a privilege to peek inside and see the strength, endurance, friendship, sorrows and bigotry, not only of the law but of humanity.
Inside Out is far from an easy read but once started, a compulsion to know takes over.
All Kathleen ever wanted was to be married and have children. She had only happiness in her eyes as she married Craig.
Caleb was born to Kathleen, aged 21, on 1st February 1989. Caleb had a problem with his larynx and died 20th February 1989
Patrick was born 3rd June 1990. He was epileptic. Both parents watched over him constantly. In November, doctors confirmed he was also blind. He died of an epilepsy fit, 13th February 1991.
It is heart wrenching to read Kath’s agony. She could no longer live in the family home. They moved to Thornton where Craig worked nights and Kath found some sought of solace working in a baby store. (Interesting to note, as revealed later, that Craig took all the money she earned for a ‘special account’).
Sarah was born 14th October 1992. She did not sleep much. Neither did Kath who was exhausted monitoring her short sleeps and checking her breathing continually.
At this time Tracy, whom Kath had known since school days had been married in 1990. Tracy had many failed pregnancies. She divorced in 1995 and followed her career to New York.
Kath and Craig’s marriage was a continual roller coaster. Kath left, and returned. They moved to Cardiff. Their rift grew even more when Kath discovered her babies ashes had been removed from the church by Craig. Craig now blamed Kath who was now over weight and lethargic. Kath also blamed herself. Craig told her in no uncertain terms that she was so lacking in appeal.
After weeks at the gym and exercise. Kath returned to Craig. She became unwell and was diagnosed with chlamydia. She had long suspected Craig of affairs and this confirmed it. However, such was her belief in family and marriage she stayed on, falling pregnant in early 1997.
Every one was overjoyed. Kath, became “all nerves” but put on her cheerful front, more to reassure others. Laura was born 7th August 1997. Laura was to “stay the longest”. Her birth was more difficult for Kath whose coccyx was broken in childbirth. She had severe bleeding. Craig was the first to hold baby Laura. He bonded and fell in love with his beautiful baby girl.
After one year doctors assured them there was no need to worry any further. What a huge celebration was Laura’s first birthday! (Interesting that mainly Craig’s friends were invited and attended).
When Laura was 1 ½ years Craig was the parent to find her dead in her cot. Kath was numb with shock. Craig made the funeral arrangements. Their relationship once more deteriorated.
This is just the start of Kathleen and Tracey’s book. I hope I have written enough, (or not too much), so that you will read this amazing and revealing account involving our law and justice system at every level; solicitors, police, our prison system, universities, pathologists, court system, psychologists, medical institutions, geneticists, our media, complacency, the power of one or many, ruthlessness, advocacy, international and Australian expertise, compassion, action and so much more.
This book with so many revelations cannot be given a rating. To me it is above that.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

It would be good if everyone who read the vicarious, false, 'true' crime coverage accusing Kathleen Folbigg of multiple filicide would read this book. It is unlikely: it is much easier to read lurid imagined fantasies of evil mums than to read about the immense grief and agony of losing four children, your family, your reputation and your freedom. Folbigg and Chapman do what they can to emphasise the positives here, their friendship, but for both of them, the emphasis inevitably falls on what they have lost. It was, and is, important to me to read this because I think we owe ourselves, as well as these women, the time to read and listen to their words, when the media, the judiciary and Kath's own family were so quick to paint another set of stories. It's owed to us, because the realities of Kathleen's diaries tell a story common to so many women, about maternal agony and deep, largely unacknowledged traumatic grief. In the 1990s, when these children died, there were little tools to recognise the impact of the trauma on mothers who lost their children. In the book, you see Folbigg dissociate severely without treatment, appearing instead to be coping as she moved robotically through tasks. Her repetitive terrified thoughts, processed through journalling, then become grist for a severe demonisation instead of a recognition of the terrible, crushing guilt and misery we now understand as a typical response to loss and depression. Chapman is particularly focused on ensuring that this aspect of the case is highlighted, that there is a legal record to confirm that journalling does not make you a criminal, that women can process their thoughts without persecution for having them.
Similarly, that it was easier to believe that Folbigg inherited 'murder genes' than that her children inherited fatal medical conditions says so much about the distortions we have of science and of women and of class. There is so much here to unpick about gender, and socioeconomic status - Folbigg and Chapman are generous to all the legal teams but the failings of the legal aid teams in the first place are breathtaking. And also about how kids in foster care are exposed to vulnerabilities legally and in fractured support systems that are incredible.
That it took so long to exonerate her, when the medical and legal status was so much clearer, is nothing short of rage-inducing. And the only real explanations are either a willingness to sacrifice her in fear of public backlash, or such ingrained misogyny that it overrides the most solid of evidence walls.
Since this book was published, Folbigg has received $2m in compensation, or around $100k for each year in jail. Hardly seems like a lot in comparison to her, well, life. But then, no amount of money would.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Those of us who have had little direct involvement with the Australian justice system like to think that it works effectively. It makes us feel more secure to think that only the guilty are punished and that the punishment fits the crime. I suspect that few of us think much about miscarriages of justice, until we are confronted by cases such as Lindy Chamberlain’s and Kathleen Folbigg’s.

I remember when Kathleen Folbigg was convicted of killing her four children. I had no idea whether she was guilty or not. The media coverage focussed on the awfulness of the ‘crime’ and then moved on. Some years later I became aware that there was scientific evidence that cast doubt on Kathleen Folbigg’s guilt. And, if she was not guilty then she should not be in prison. Like so many others, I was delighted when Kathleen Folbigg was released from prison, pardoned and exonerated.

I picked up this book because I wanted to know more about Kathleen’s fight for justice. The book opens with Kathleen’s release from prison, and arrival at Tracy’s home. Kathleen and Tracy take turns to tell their stories, of their friendship growing up, of Tracy’s unwavering belief in Kathleen’s innocence and their reconnection after Kathleen’s conviction.

Reading Kathleen’s account of her childhood makes her wrongful imprisonment even more harrowing. Here is a woman who survived a traumatic childhood, who wanted to be the best mother ever, and whose marriage swapped one measure of control for another. And there is Tracy, with challenges of her own, committed to finding justice for Kathleen.

But how do you rebuild your life after twenty years of wrongful imprisonment? I wish both Kathleen and Tracy the very best for the future.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Julia Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inside Out was a page turner. A shared biography of two friends, whose friendship withstood unimaginable loss, incarceration, a twenty year fight for justice. I’m in awe of their (and Team Follbigg) endurance. A story about how hard women have to fight to be heard, believed, and for justice. It left me with many mixed emotions. And huge anger at how our justice system seemingly works so hard at disallowing science to shine in a court of law. It took a small group of determined women (Kath’s Advocates) to gather the best scientific minds internationally, to have Kath’s life sentence quashed, and have her exonerated. I take inspiration from them all, and thank them for bringing this terrible injustice into public consciousness.

[Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

INSIDE OUT
Kathleen Folbigg and Tracy Chapman
Penguin 2025

‘Inside Out' is a factual account of how Kathleen Folbigg came to be wrongly convicted for the deaths of her four infant children; of the time she served; and of proceedings which eventually led to those convictions being overturned.
It is narrated alternately from the viewpoints of Kathleen, and her friend since childhood, Tracy Chapman, who coordinated the long-running campaign to prove Kathleen’s innocence.

Tracy resonated with me more so – her approach seems more candid and insightful. In saying that however, it’s not at all surprising that Kathleen comes across as somewhat guarded…a key piece of circumstantial evidence used against her at trial was journal entries her estranged husband had previously handed over to police. Kathleen’s storytelling reminds me of someone who’s providing casual commentary on their own home movies. Again, completely understandable and not necessarily a negative point.
I feel that editing was probably light-on (especially with stylistic aspects), as it should be for autobiographical texts, in my opinion. The two women’s individual voices come through distinctly despite the slight distance I felt from Kathleen.

The specific circumstances around Kathleen Folbigg’s imprisonment are fairly unusual…a notable precedent being the 1980/81 Lindy Chamberlain case, which shares some commonalities. It’s actually disheartening to see how some shortcomings of the judicial system which contributed to Lindy’s situation, also caused history to repeat in a similar way for Kathleen Folbigg.

I admire both authors greatly for living this story, and then for sharing it in a book – it’s an important one.

Reviewed by Eve Stephenson
Brisbane 2025

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am in awe of Kath’s strength to share her story. She’s a household name across Australia & the world - but hearing her story in her own words was something else.
I cannot believe this is real life. & this is my own country. But as shocked as i am, I’m also not surprised. It’s a true account of the misogyny that is embedded deep in our legal system.
I have no more words - just a request to please read. The more who know what our system is capable of, the more we can pressure for change.

[Ann Koenig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book shows how women are still depicted as “bad mothers” - it is disgraceful how Kathleen Folbigg was imprisoned for crimes she did not commit. She and her friend Tracy have written a great book.

[Michelle Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story and I always knew she was innocent but this book mustn’t have been edited by a professional. It’s poorly written and I found myself rewording sentences in my head. So glad she has been exonerated.

[Karen Johnston · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting and easy to read book. The content is disturbing and sad but it is worth reading to understand what happened to Kath and the inadequacies and unfair in the system that allowed it to happen and took so long to correct.

[Zoe Pisano · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not think l would finish this book. It became an absolute page turner. Highly recommend 💕

[Kim Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

good insight into her early life and marriage

[Merryll · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book delves into how an innocent woman achieves the impossible task of proving her innocence with the faith, belief and courage of her amazing girlfriend.
Recommended reading

[Julie Steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow a book you can't put down an amazing fight with the justice system she should never have been sent to jail