#5 A Prisoner of Birth

It may seem that a spot of favouritism is taking place as this is another Jeffery Archer book. But last Wednesday, my father bought me this book and fussed over me until I had read the whole thing. I finished it on Sunday morning, and as it is his birthday today I thought it wholly appropriate to make it my WWP.

To review this story, I have to begin at the prologue. Daniel Arthur Cartwright is celebrating his engagement with his fiancée Beth Wilson and with his best friend and soon to be brother-in-law Bernie Wilson. In a street fight gone wrong, Bernie ends up being stabbed to death. '

The book opens as Danny’s trial for the murder of his best friend commences. He and Beth know that he is being framed for this heinous crime. But when the men responsible are; a respected barrister, the youngest partner in history at an esteemed estate agent, an aristocrat, and a famous actor, he has little to no chance. Danny is only a mechanic from the East End who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, so how on earth will he ever prove his innocence?

Danny is given a life sentence to serve at Bellmarsh prison. As he sits in prison with 22 years left, he begins to plot how, if ever given the chance, he will ruin the lives of those who ruined his. But a change of circumstances means that he might be able to get revenge after all.

Archer’s writing has once again blown me away. This is simply a story about how a man’s injustice drives him not to become a prisoner of his birth. The decisions that Danny makes along the way are so unbelievably clever and with every intricate detail being covered, a riveting novel is born. Although it is not a small book at 616 pages, the writing is fairly big and the chapters are small so I found it pretty easy to read in under 4 days. But nethertheless, it is a compelling read that should be enjoyed by many.

'A Prisoner of Birth’ is divided into 5 different parts, which I think can serve as a description for its themes and can give a suitable summary of the book without too many spoilers: The Trial, Prison, Freedom, Revenge and Redemption.

This book certainly has the thumbs up from me.

H x