This book has a most original premise. It is based on the UK charity, Fine Cell Work, operating in British prisons to teach inmates needlework and quilting. It is set in an Australian prison, with a charity called Connecting Threads teaching quilting and embroidery to male prisoners around the country. The Yarrandarrah group are known as the Backtackers.

The main character, middle-aged, Derek, in jail for fraud stemming from his addiction to poker machines, is a shining light of the Backtackers, specialising in complicated versions of the needlework kits the teacher, Jane, brings for the prisoners to complete.

The plot is simple: Derek is told by his former sister-in-law that his only daughter, Debbie, is to be married. He is persuaded that the Backtackers could make her a wedding dress.

Not everything goes to plan, but the prisoners make and embroider a splendid dress. Derek is forced to recognise his own failings, being jolted out of his belief that he was a victim of his ex-wife’s spending habits; while the future of the prison library, and that of the town library, is at risk from a local politician’s decisions.

I really wanted to like this book. It’s an interesting tale but I felt the whole tale could have been told as a long short story and the cast of characters somehow lacks substance, even though the author has assiduously researched prison procedures around Australia to form fictional protocols for her Yarrandarrah Prison.

Reviewed by Jennifer Somerville