Goulburn's Deliverance by Grant Rodwell

Young Aussie, Michael Fitzpatrick, is an intelligent lad with a promising future at the Sydney General Post Office. Along with his good friend Wayne, he gets a bookmaker's licence and off they go to Melbourne Cup races. The intrepid duo strike it rich. Michael loses his virginity and falls in love with a mysterious young woman. He has promised to find his lover after the Cup, but back in Sydney - having covered one last bet at the Cup which relieved the young men of all their winnings - Michael is charged with conspiring to defraud the Crown. He is sentenced to seven years imprisonment at Goulburn Gaol. 

'Based loosely on the life of Australian novelist, James Francis Dwyer, who survived the Goulburn Gaol over a century ago, Goulburn's Deliverance is a compelling and often chilling tale. Rare is the novel that deals so honestly and graphically with prison conditions, and yet still leaves the reader with a sense of the magnificence of living in freedom. Grant Rodwell succeeds better than most, and presents a riveting read to boot.'
- Ellen Tanner Marsh, best-selling New York Times author