The Orphans of Halfpenny Street

The Orphans of Halfpenny Street
Cathy Sharp

Call the Midwife meets Dr Barnardo’s in this gritty drama that will appeal to fans of Nadine Dorries and Kitty Neale.When there is nowhere else to turn, St Saviour’s will give them hope…It’s 1947 and London’s East End is still a bombed-out landscape. Sister Beatrice, who runs the St Saviour’s Children’s Home, knows that life is still a precarious existence for many children and it seems that there is no end to the constant stream of waifs and strays who appear at their door looking for a safe haven.One such arrival is Mary Ellen whose mother is gravely ill. The one silver lining is her best friend, the tearaway Billy Baggins, also a resident of the home, but Billy seems intent on falling foul of Sister Beatrice’s strict regime.New arrival on the staff, Angela, admires Sister Beatrice, but can see that the children need love and kindness as well as a strong hand. When an unwelcome face from Billy’s past arrives on the scene, things are brought to a head. Can the two women work together to keep Billy on the straight and narrow – or is it too late?

Copyright (#ubb64e586-485e-5342-b9ed-1e963d768eb1)

Harper

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

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www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by Harper 2015

Copyright © HarperCollinsPublishers 2015

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2015

Cover photographs © Henry Steadman (children); The Bridgeman Art Library (East End background)

Cathy Sharp asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008118440

Ebook Edition © September 2015 ISBN: 9780008118457

Version 2015-07-22

Dedication (#ubb64e586-485e-5342-b9ed-1e963d768eb1)

For my wonderful agent, Judith Murdoch, who gave me the chance to write these books, and for my equally wonderful editor, Kate Bradley, for inspiring me.

Table of Contents

Cover (#ueb127f99-b72b-57ba-b130-080ea12bc5ad)

Title Page (#u61bf18dc-48a9-594b-b855-defb516a91e9)

Copyright (#uafff6052-5c2f-53f6-ba3b-24f9232332a6)

Dedication (#uc813cb50-a347-5125-9678-d96f7bf4ec68)

Chapter One (#u44c97e94-95a4-5094-9c40-056472d69fd4)

Chapter Two (#ua1f61975-bd5e-5677-9336-fd413191e6f3)

Chapter Three (#u50250112-54a7-5180-88bc-259ed927df46)

Chapter Four (#ua7a1339e-1aae-50cb-9578-40a4a70fc5da)

Chapter Five (#ua074b237-63d2-5bf4-87d7-5a57a6943586)

Chapter Six (#u1e3c4daf-1d72-58b2-91d2-93adef3c750a)

Chapter Seven (#u30a83011-433a-5c22-a30e-3550d984a590)

Chapter Eight (#u4e87d10a-ffc1-5893-98de-552a60b492b2)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Three (#litres_trial_promo)