Innocent Child

Georgia's story An East End story with a colourful backdrop of the grandfather's early association with the Kray Brothers. Her young mother becomes addicted to drugs after taking speed to lose weight and then moves onto other drugs including heroin. The husband sells the house and leaves. The new home becomes a drug den. The initially happy childhood for the children disappears and they are dirty and neglected. Bouts of remorse and attempts to get clean, fail. Georgia grew up seeing drug abuse, alcohol abuse and violence. The pattern repeats itself when as a teenager Georgia chooses the wrong man who is very violent and she has three babies before she is twenty. The children are taken away by social services but are then kidnapped by their father. Georgia runs away with him for the safety of her children. He is arrested and sent to prison and the children adopted. On release he grabs Georgia again and beats and rapes her. Finally she is free of him and at 32, she has been accepted at university to study and become a social worker. A powerful and complex story with many twists and turns but finally with a good outcome.

Toni Maguire is the author of sixteen books, including her own bestselling memoirs Don't Tell Mummy and When Daddy Comes Home. Telling her own story encouraged others who had kept their childhood secrets hidden to approach her, and she now writes for those who need a voice too. To date, she has sold over 1.5 million books worldwide. Toni lives in the UK but loves travelling to South Africa often.