Inside the tiger by Hayley Lawrence
Penguin Books, 2018. ISBN 9780143788959
(Age: Senior secondary) Recommended. Themes: Justice system, capital
punishment, social action, friendship, family, grief, loss. Bel
Anderson is the 17 year old daughter of the Minister for Justice and
has attended an exclusive girls' boarding school in Sydney for the
last seven years. Her mother was murdered when she was a baby and
her father has made it his mission in life to get justice for
victims of crime; he is now campaigning for mandatory sentencing
laws. Bel's Legal Studies class is given an assignment to "align
yourself with a movement for the betterment of society, the world,
yourselves or each other" p 3. She is sick of causes, having been
dragged into her father's campaigns all her life so she chooses to
write a letter to a prisoner, seemingly the easiest way to fulfil
the assignment's requirements. When the prisoner, Micah, on Death
Row in a notorious Thai prison writes back Bel finds herself drawn
into caring about the 18 year old Australian and his situation, and
travels to Thailand to visit him. Knowing she will be opposing her
father's position on justice and punishment Bel draws support from
her friends, even though they are concerned and caution her about
the emotional cost. As she takes Micah's cause to social media and a
public rally she widens the debate "We don't allow our own
government to execute our prisoners so why should we be silent when
it happens to our people overseas." P223. But her actions have some
unforeseen consequences.
This first novel is remarkable in successfully weaving together a
rarely explored and controversial topic with a complex and
challenging coming of age story. Bel leads a life of privilege but
the loss of her mother and the preoccupation of her father leave her
emotionally vulnerable. Finding a "soul mate" in a Thai gaol helps
her find perspective and she grows in maturity as she faces some
hard truths.
Recommended for senior students and particularly those interested in
social action this novel could be used as a discussion starter on
social activism or capital punishment. The "From the Author" section
at the end of the book quotes the Foreign Prisoner Support Service
"Write to a prisoner. It will make your day, but it will make their
life". The story comes from what she learnt from five years of
writing to a prisoner on death row in Thailand.
Sue Speck