Between Me and Myself

‘Extraordinary…A truly compelling account of one woman’s pained search for self-understanding and betterment behind bars.’ * Nathan Smith, Australian *
‘Heartbreaking…A searing indictment of Australian society and its institutions…Between Me and Myself is not an easy read, but it is a necessary one.’ * The Conversation *
‘Frank writing style…troubling book but it’s incredibly engaging… also a really interesting story of activism.’ * RNZ Nine To Noon *
‘Powerful and instructive for all of us…Between Me and Myself is a book that reveals the competing powers of loves and hate.’ * Age *
‘An incredible read.’ * 3RRR: Queer View Mirror *

Sandra Willson

Sandra Willson was born in 1939 in Sydney to working-class parents. Her first attempt to express her feelings for a woman led her to the Children’s Court and detention in the Girl’s Training School at Parramatta. At eighteen, she was offered a place as a trainee psychiatric nurse but a failed affair with a fellow trainee led a despairing Sandra to plot a murder that saw her sentenced to detention at the ‘Governor’s Pleasure’ on the grounds of insanity. She spent the next seventeen years in prison and psychiatric hospitals. After her release, she worked on prison reform, establishing and running the first half-way house for women prisoners in NSW, serving on a range of government committees and acting as a consultant for the hit television show Prisoner. In 1991, Sandra retired to Queensland, where she died, in 1999, leaving her papers and memoir to her local church.

Rebecca Jennings

Rebecca Jennings is a Lecturer in Modern Gender History in the Department of History at University College, London. She is the author of Tomboys and Bachelor Girls: A Lesbian History of Post-war Britain and Unnamed Desires: A Sydney Lesbian History.

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