True story of an abandoned, abused little girl wanting to be part of a family.

Desperate to start a family, Cathy and her husband John volunteer as foster parents. During their first placement they are thrilled to discover that Cathy is preagnant. When Adrian is born their lives seem complete, and they eagerly await the arrival of their second foster child, Dawn, a shy and polite girl whom Cathy comes to treat as a daughter. Soon, however, it becomes obvious that Dawn is going to be much harder to help than they first imagined. One night Cathy awakes to find Dawn standing over her baby's cot, and a nightmare begins. When Cathy asks Dawn about the scars covering her arms, Dawn insists there is nothing to tell.

Cathy slowly discovers the terrible childhood Dawn has had: rejected by her parents, left to fend for herself, then sibjected to violent treatment by her relatives. But Cathy soon realises that Dawn's worst enemy is herself.

"Dawn absently rubbed the sleeve of the jumper on her scarred arm as though remembering,'I'm no good at talking about my feelings,' she said quietly. 'The hurt builds up inside me 'til I can't stand it any more. I have to cut to let it out.'" A sad but compelling story, impossible NOT to read through in 1