Secret Child

Secret Child
Andrew Crofts

Gordon Lewis

The shocking true story of a young boy hidden away from his family and the world in a Catholic home for unmarried mothers in 1950s Dublin.Born an 'unfortunate' onto the rough streets of 1950s Dublin, this is the incredible true story of a young boy, a secret child born into a home for unmarried mothers in 1950s Dublin and a mother determined to keep her child, even if it meant hiding him from her own family and the rest of the world.Despite the poverty, hardship and isolation, the pride and hope of a community of women who banded together to raise their children would give this boy his chance to find his real family.A wonderfully heartwarming and evocative tale of working class life in 1950s Dublin and 1960s London.

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Copyright (#u4c1b79c5-3336-5fdc-9577-0913ed0e4e2b)

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First published by HarperElement 2015

FIRST EDITION

© Gordon Lewis and Andrew Crofts 2015

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015

Cover photographs © Ableimages/Alamy (boy, posed by model); Hugh Doran/Irish Architectural Archive (Dublin background)

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right to be identified as the authors of this work

A catalogue record of this book

is available from the British Library

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Source ISBN: 9780008127336

Ebook Edition © April 2015 ISBN: 9780008127299

Version: 2015-03-16

Contents

Cover (#u86a4dddf-6834-5a62-8c38-eb27f93e1e64)

Title Page (#ulink_5b90b031-e6c2-5bc0-bde7-9c8350ce13d2)

Copyright (#ulink_f425c312-3273-5f6d-9525-5ecf03a7e2fc)

Chapter One: Going Home (#ulink_903834cd-d1ec-57c6-8479-7d0ab6231b39)

Chapter Two: Divine Intervention (#ulink_d9bd7a53-250d-58a2-9002-75082e0caa77)

Chapter Three: A New Start (#ulink_dd76d23c-678a-5998-a826-6ddb008f4402)

Chapter Four: Decision Time (#ulink_0ffb2ad6-a872-5376-bfbb-4f0e37361227)

Chapter Five: Back to the Beginning (#ulink_610ec305-c2c1-5665-ba2a-46c3d89b9080)

Chapter Six: So Long, Francis (#ulink_70ac2b5f-9bca-5b04-bc95-7009e6b3b33c)

Chapter Seven: He Who Dares (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight: Off the Rails (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine: Moving On (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten: Brave New World (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven: Happy Families (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve: Hard Times (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen: A Real Education (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen: A Hard Day’s Night (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen: Lessons (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen: The Story of My Mother and Father (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

Exclusive sample chapter (#litres_trial_promo)

If you like this, you’ll love … (#litres_trial_promo)

Moving Memoirs eNewsletter (#litres_trial_promo)