KNOCK BACK

Hardback. Peter Aitken (now Adams), the first murderer to stand trial in England after the abolition of the death penalty in 1965, was released from prison in 1982 after serving 17 years - the longest sentence served at the time, by any prisoner who has been released. This book tells how his relationship with a woman, the writer Shirley Cooklin, now his wife, whom he first met when she visited him in prison, affected his release, and how they faced the disappointment of repeated knockbacks by the Parole Board. It is both an unusual love story, told from both their points of view, and a remarkable account of prison life which raises fundamental questions about the prison system. 176pp. 8vo. h/back. F. in F. dw.