Polman presents a wealth of absurd, harrowing and moving stories, along with her own observations, garnered from time spent over several years in the company of ‘death row dollies’; European women who passionately link their fates to that of death row inmates in Texas.

She follows not only the British, Italian, German and other trans-Atlantic ‘dollies’ to their cheap motels around death row in Texas’ boondocks, but also the tireless ladies of Texas’ own tiny anti-death penalty movement, and widows and orphans who, after the execution of husbands and fathers, are left behind with the inheritance: often not much more than letters and a table fan. And she meets with the inmates themselves.

Polman’s bitter sense of humour and her lively, no-nonsense style give the book pace and the reader room to breathe, but nowhere does she lose sight of essentials. She casts doubt on America’s image as a land of unlimited opportunity by implicitly asking which is more reprehensible: the terrible crimes committed, or the punishment that the good inflict.