On The Holloway Road

Unmotivated and dormant, Jack is drawn into the rampant whirlwind of Neil Blake, who he meets one windy night on the Holloway Road. Inspired by Jack Kerouac's famous road novel, the two young men climb aboard Jack's Figaro and embark on a similar search for freedom and meaning in modern-day Britain. Pulled along in Neil's careering path, taking them from the pubs of London's Holloway Road to the fringes of the Outer Hebrides, Jack begins to ask questions of himself, his friend and what there is in life to grasp. Spiting speed cameras and CCTV, motorway riots and island detours, will their path lead to new meaning or ultimate destruction?

This book offers a unique and telling insight into life in the claustrophobic and sometimes violent atmosphere of London's Holloway Prison. This was what author and artist Hilary Beauchamp came to know only too well. It is a compelling, true life account of Beauchamp's experiences serving as a creative arts instructor in this famous north-London prison. Beauchamp 'lifts the lid' on life inside, making the book a must for students of women's imprisonment. Her inside story is also a 'Rough Guide' as to what to expect when entering a closed institution as an outsider. Holloway Prison: An Inside Story is an ideal primer on women's issues within the penal system. The book's unusually perceptive description of the ways in which imprisonment impacts women adds a new dimension to the literature on this topic. (In 1992, artist Hilary Beauchamp was awarded an MBE for her teaching services to creative arts at Holloway Prison and earlier, in September 2008, she won the ITV London Teacher of the Year Award.)