Gert van Niekerk

Purgatory

Carly is happily spreading goodness and light as a Peace Corps volunteer in Africa when she and her pal Melanie run afoul of the local, highly corrupt, justice system. Despite numerous bribes by her mother Ruth, the two girls receive an eleven-year sentence on phony charges of drug-peddling. They are sentenced to serve their time at a prison run by a dissolute warden Bledsoe who typically employs his better looking female prisoners as prostitutes. Melanie kills herself after being gang-raped by guards, and Carly, realizing she'll get no help from the U.S. Embassy, has no choice but to escape.