How does the lived experience of desisting from crime compare across contrasting penological landscapes and cultures? What can a gendered perspective bring to this study? What can comparative penology and feminist criminology learn from a cross-cultural study of female desistance? Drawing on original comparative research offering insight into the female journey towards desistance in Sweden and England, this book considers these questions and more, and makes a unique contribution to the discipline. It fills a large qualitative gap in the existing literature, both by exploring how diverse cultures and macro-structures interact with the micro-process of desistance, and by offering a gendered and feminist perspective.