Review of Jenny Radcliffe

Posted on: 29 April 2022 by William Marsden and Imogen Massey in Liverpool Literary Festival 2023

Jenny Radcliffe, a security consultant, or a criminal with a conscience engaged with and compelled the audience to delve deeper it the understandings of people and situations. Her book, 'People Hacker – Confessions of a Burglar for Hire' is an anecdotal and hilarious collection of stories and reflections by Jenny Radcliffe about her career as a professional ethical hacker.

As an alumnus of the Liverpool University English Department, Ms Radcliffe discussed her book with one of her former lecturers, Professor Jill Rudd. This gave a personal touch to the evening, and throughout the discussion, the importance of her English degree was repeatedly mentioned. In her own words, Ms Radcliffe’s time at university seems to have honed her creative and lateral thinking, a great example of the transferable skills gained in higher education.

The conversational pace of the discussion and her dynamic stage presence made for a particularly engaging evening, punctuated with funny and provoking anecdotes. These anecdotes led to moral discussions and ruminations about local culture. Whilst this meant there wasn’t enough time for any direct book reading, the fact that we heard several stories that didn’t make it past the editors more than made up for this!

Of note (without revealing too much), a personal story about Liverpool sparked an interesting dialogue about casual sexism and regional discrimination, providing a meaningful insight beyond the dust jacket biography. Another highlight was when Ms Radcliffe discussed the Northern criminal stereotype and provided a witty yet blunt response. The evening concluded with a Q&A which was informative and entertaining.