#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - NOW A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES With a career a boyfriend and a loving family Piper Kerman barely resembles the reckless young woman who delivered a suitcase of drug money ten years before. But that past has caught up with her. Convicted and sentenced to fifteen months at the infamous federal correctional facility in Danbury Connecticut the well-heeled Smith College alumna is now inmate #11187-424--one of the millions of people who disappear down the rabbit hole of the American penal system. From her first strip search to her final release Kerman learns to navigate this strange world with its strictly enforced codes of behavior and arbitrary rules. She meets women from all walks of life who surprise her with small tokens of generosity hard words of wisdom and simple acts of acceptance. Heartbreaking hilarious and at times enraging Kerman s story offers a rare look into the lives of women in prison--why it is we lock so many away and what happens to them when they re there. Praise for Orange Is the New Black Fascinating . . . The true subject of this unforgettable book is female bonding and the ties that even bars can t unbind. --People (four stars) I loved this book. It s a story rich with humor pathos and redemption. What I did not expect from this memoir was the affection compassion and even reverence that Piper Kerman demonstrates for all the women she encountered while she was locked away in jail. I will never forget it. --Elizabeth Gilbert author of Eat Pray Love This book is impossible to put down because [Kerman] could be you. Or your best friend. Or your daughter. --Los Angeles Times Moving . . . transcends the memoir genre s usual self-centeredness to explore how human beings can always surprise you. --USA Today It s a compelling awakening and a harrowing one--both for the reader and for Kerman. --Newsweek