Sometimes you start reading a book and you just know it is going to be a fantastic read, this is one of those books. Right from the very first page you can tell it’s going to get you hooked !!

We first meet Jenna as she is being loaded into a prison van on her way to spending time in prison on remand. She is accused of killing her soon to be step daughter and also her fiancé, who is missing presumed dead. Jenna pleads her innocence but no-one believes her. After some routine tests in prison her life becomes even more complicated when she discovers she is pregnant. How can she be pregnant in prison ? What will happen to her if her fellow inmates discover her true identity and alleged crimes ? Can Jenna find out who framed her before it’s too late ?

This is a fantastic book and the best I have read in a long long time. It gets you hooked right from the start and I love the way we have little insights into the past here and there between the day to day of Jenna’s prison life. It is a very harrowing story in places and you get a real sense of prison life. If you are thinking of reading this book then just do it, you just need to read the first few pages to see how brilliant the book is going to be !!

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book.

This story was so realistic that I didn't think I would be able to finish it. The implications of he story were horrendous and the descriptions of the prison and prisoners was terrifying. I am pleased I managed to finish the book, as there was some justice and closure at the end but the experience will haunt her for the rest of her life.

Jenna had it all, wonderful fiancé and stepdaughter. Wedding planned at his parents country estate house until she is charged with the murder of her stepdaughter. In prison protesting her innocence she discovers she is pregnant and with her fiancé missing how can she prove she isn’t guilty.

I really enjoyed this and didn’t work out the twist so that was a pleasant surprise! Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

A brilliant book that illustrates the nightmare of being imprisoned when innocent. The prison regime is graphically described bringing chills to my bones. A great story full of twists and suspense.

In On My Life the sights, sounds and smells of prison life are vividly realised.
Jenna has been falsely accused of a brutal murder. She is locked up on remand and everyone believes her to be guilty. A child-killer gets short shrift in prison so Jenna has to keep her head down and try to solve the murder from her cell.
This book is impossibly gripping and wonderfully entertaining. Five stars.

A stand –alone novel, On My Life grabs you from the beginning and never lets go. Tense, exhausting, gripping it’s all of those thriller staples, but it is so much more. Angela Clarke has so vividly recreated the women’s prison in which her protagonist, Jenna Burns is incarcerated awaiting trial, that you feel as if you are in there with her.

This is not just excellent research; it is living breathing jail time. I got scared, then I got angry as all of the injustices, large and small were meted out on Jenna and her poor cellmate, Kelly, just because they could. Compassion and empathy were hard to come by, regarded by prisoners and guards alike as a weakness that could never be shown.

The story is told in a dual time frame, then and now. Jenna’s incarceration takes up the now timeslot and we travel back in time to understand what led her to her present location and the charge of murder she faces.

Jenna’s life was good and she was on course to it becoming even better with a new love, and a whole new future in front of her. Angela Clarke drip feeds these sections with tiny drops of doubt and suspicion, leading us to wonder whether everything in Jenna’s garden is as rosy as she wants to believe, but nothing prepares us for the brutal murder and other horrible crimes with which Jenna is charged and which no-one seems to be in any doubt that she committed.

From the opening scene, where Jenna faces a media onslaught whilst being led into the prison van, the tension, noises, smells, the smells, all the visceral emotions that crowd her, grab the reader’s attention and make you feel as if you are there with her, all hope gone, still wondering how you could possibly have ended up here?

Whilst Clarke does a brilliant job of conveying the very real emotions of incarceration and the sense of isolation and hopelessness that a new inmate faces, I thought she also did an excellent job of showing real character development as Jenna realises how much she can learn from the women she makes friends with, once she has stopped thinking of them all as potential enemies.

Where the anger really surfaces, though, is when you understand that the utterly compelling picture that she paints about women in prison; pregnancy amongst inmates and the sheer lack of institutional capability to deal with pregnant women is all real.

Yes, this is a brilliant, breath-taking thriller that completely devours your time as you find yourself completely unable to put it down and I commend it to everyone for that alone. But it is also a searing indictment of the state of the justice system when it comes to understanding and dealing with women and the statistics and information that she details in the afterword are as shocking as the story the book has to tell.

Verdict: Riveting, nail-bitingly good, utterly compelling and beautifully plotted.

This story is told by Jenna, who appears to have the perfect life with Richard until she is wrongly accused of murdering her stepdaughter Emily and the possible murder of Richard who has disappeared.
Has she been set up???
Where is Richard???
It gives an in-depth insight into the conditions in women’s prisons today and keeps you in suspense right to the end.
Fantastic, intriguing thriller.
Highly recommend.
Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the opportunity to read and review.

A well-plotted whodunnit which keeps you guessing till the end and also provides a realistic insight into life in a women's prison.

This is a 4-5 star read! A crazy, thrill ride from page one. What do you do in a situation like this, read to find out! There’s many twists, chills, thrills, and even a bit of tears! I would highly recommend to my fellow thriller lovers and will make sure I buzz it up!
Will use in a challenge and review on Tuesday in Chapter Chatter Pub!

Angela Clarke has clearly done a lot of research into current conditions and practices in women’s prisons as seen by all of the acknowledgements at the end of the novel. The gritty descriptions of the visitors’ room, the shared cells and the dreaded corridors to be negotiated during ‘Free Flow’ also seemed authentic and the serious over-crowding in UK prisons is certainly an important subject for consideration. However, ‘On My Life’ is not for me.
In the first part of the story the plot, which details the beginning of the Jenna and Robert romance, came across as a cliché – incredibly handsome man bumps into office worker who has broken away from her dysfunctional family but lacks loving partner – and as the narrative progressed, I became less and less convinced by all of the twists and turns. Whilst not wishing to include any spoilers, I will say that the final ‘big event’ in the prison came across as utterly ludicrous. Such a shame; I would love to read a serious fictional consideration of life in a women’s prison but ‘On My Life’ is not such a novel.
My thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton, Mulholland Books for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is firmly in my top books of 2019 so far. I devoured it in just 2 sittings. The story is told by Jenna who has been wrongly imprisoned for the murder of her stepdaughter Emily as well as her fiance who is still missing. This book holds a great pace and is a little different from many murder detective stories in that it doesn't follow the police investigation instead it follows Jenna's life on reprimand in a womans prison. Alongside this, there is also a 'then' narrative telling us the back story of how she met Robert and his daughter Emily. Jenna is a very likely character so it was easy to get drawn into the story and hope all would turn out well in the end. The book also really highlights the mix of people in our prisons as well as the inhuman way many are treated. The book focuses on the good people in prison the ones who are not there for violent crimes. In particular the pregnant cellmates Jenna and Kelly who forge a strong bond and friendship. I think this book will stay with me for a long time it has really opened my eyes to what prison is like and how lack of staff training has lead to serious shortcomings in care of the more vulnerable prisoners. I cannot wait to read more from Angela Clarke’s I would highly recommend this novel to everyone.

Blimey "On My Life by Angela Clarke" was a brilliant read. This was a book I was in two minds to read but I am so glad I read it. I would highly recommend this book it was Gritty, very detailed and has you guessing who killed the Emily.

Jenna thought she had a perfect life, she is happy, had a good job and was marrying her loving fiancé Richard who is mega rich and he has a teenage daughter called Emily. Everything seems to be rosy until Emily was Murdered and Richard's Blood was found by the scene but Richard had disappeared.

Jenna found her step daughter Emily murdered and is accused of murdering her and Richard!

Did she kill Emily?

Where is Richard...........the Police has found no Body? only his blood?

Has he been kidnapped? No ransom has been asked for by the kidnappers?

Where is he?

Is Jenna being framed? Is Richards parents involved?

And the police think Jenna did it........and she is Imprisoned. and then she finds out she is Pregnant with Richards child.

Locked up to awaiting trial, pregnant and surrounded by prisoners who'd hurt her if they knew what she's accused of. Certain someone close to her has framed her, Jenna knows what she needs to do:

She needs to clear her name
Save her baby
and find who Killed Emily and find where her fiancé Richard is. Hoping he is alive.

But can she do it in time?

This book is Just brilliant and a very powerful read.

Highly Recommend this Book and this Author. Just Brilliant.

5 Star read.

Thank you Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for a copy of this book.

" *** Reviews on Goodreads and Amazon UK ***"

This book did not disappoint! So much of this makes you question did she or didn't she. The detail of prison life is eye opening and there are still plenty of twists to keep you hooked to the very last moment!

After hearing so many good thing about this book I wasn't disappointed. A true page turner that kept me reading long into the night. I kept thinking I had figured out who was guilty but time and time again I was proven wrong. A cracking read

With thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for this ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.

We meet Jenna Burns as she led by her solicitor Mr Peterson to a prison van. Jenna was engaged to wealthy farmer Robert. The day before she had gone to her fiance `s home with a birthday cake for his daughter 14 year old Emily.

Jenna found Emily dead in a pool of blood and Robert missing. However Jenna soon became a suspect when the police found the murder weapon in the dishwasher and child porn on her laptop. The press soon dubbed Jenna the Blonde Slayer.

Jenna was put on remand at a notorious women's prison. Unfortunately she arrived at the prison as the same time as Gould, the wife of a violent criminal. Gould recognised Jenna as the blonde Slayer and attacked her for being a nonce.

After a medical Jenna was shocked to find out she was pregnant. Desperate she had to find a way to prove her innocence and protect her baby whilst inside.

I enjoyed the plot but it was a slow burner and took along time to get going.

On My Life was unusual because it was more about Jenna`s time incarcerated then who killed Emily. The book was very atmospheric. There was an undercurrent of violence, and I could feel Jenna`s terror hoping that the other prisoners would not recognize her.

I really felt sorry for Jenna`s pregnant cell mate Kelly. Kelly was writing a handbook about prisoners rights whilst pregnant. Her elderly parents could not look after the baby and Kelly hoped to get a place in the mother and baby unit.

Although I guessed who had killed Emily the ending was completely shocking.

I recommend this excellent thriller with a conscious.

On My Life Angela Clarke

As always with an Angela Clarke book I was grabbed in from the very first page. If you want a cracking psychological thriller her books are a must. This is written with short sharp chapters and sentences, which make you say ‘just one more’, and in past and present tense.

Jenna is a young workingwoman who meets her wealthy fiancé Robert through work they have a whirlwind romance and become engaged rather quickly. Moving in with him she bonds quickly with her now stepdaughter Emily who is a vibrant teenager.

Coming home one day she finds Emily dead with blood everywhere and herself covered in blood, her bloodstained sweatshirt in the washer she is arrested by the police. From the outset she contests her innocence but then they discover that Robert is missing and as if that wasn’t bad enough there is a discovery of child pornography on her computer. Has Jenna been set up? If so who could it be? And why?

Read for an honest review. Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton Publishers.

A most enjoyable read, right from the start I was hooked on the story and just had to keep on reading to find out what had happened. The story is well written, with more information being supplied as to what happened on the fateful day but I still didn’t guess how it would end!

Thoroughly enjoyed this, if 'enjoy' is the right verb. Written with careful research and good insight, it's the story of a woman imprisoned for a murder she claims she did not commit and her fight to find out the truth before her unexpected child is born.

A thrilling, and deeply compelling, novel set primarily in a women’s prison, where Jenna is on remand, charged with the murder of her fourteen year old, soon to be, stepdaughter Emily.

Jenna seems to have it all, a loving (and rich) fiancé, a job she loves and a lovely home. This all come crashing down when she comes home to find Emily murdered and her fiancé missing. She is charged with Emily’s murder and when child pornography is found on her laptop, this seems to compound her guilt. Jenna knows that she is innocent.

In prison, Jenna befriends her cellmate, Kelly, who is young and pregnant. This provides a pretty harrowing portrayal of the treatment of women in prison, particularly those who are pregnant.

The book is a fast paced, tense and claustrophobic; it switches between ‘then’, Jenna’s life before prison and ‘now’ where she is on remand. The scenes within the prison are so well described, with such gritty realism, that they really get under your skin. You can hear the noise, smell the fear and immerse yourself in what it must be like to be incarcerated. The depiction of the prison riot had my heart racing.

The real strength of this novel is the description of prison life, well supported by a meaty thriller/whodunnit. It is apparent that the author really has done her research. I think this is going to be a big hit in 2019.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

After reading the blurb for this book I just knew that i had to read it. Jenna has been accused of a heinous crime she did not commit. How can she prove she is innocent while being incarcerated. This book gives us harrowing insights into the prison system. Overcrowding, staffing issues and corruption were all brutally and vividly described. On top of this Jenna is pregnant. This tale is thought provoking and we still have a murder to solve.
This book is beautifully written, full of red herrings and her description of prison life for a Nonce was well researched. All the way through this book I had to stop reading as it was very distressing at times.
Personally I think that this book was padded out a little too much, saying that it is an excellent read. A thought provoking and at times a harrowing insight into our prison system. Almost five stars.
I would like to thank the author, Hodder and Stoughton and Netgalley for the advanced copy in return for giving an honest review.