Alice, aged four, is snatched by her mother the day she is due to arrive at Cathy's house. Drug-dependent and mentally ill, but desperate to keep hold of her daughter, Alice's mother takes her from her parents' house and disappears. Cathy spends three anxious days worrying about her whereabouts before Alice is found safe, but traumatized. Alice is like a little doll, so young and vulnerable, and she immediately finds her place in the heart of Cathy's family. She talks openly about her mummy, who she dearly loves, and how happy she was living with her maternal grandparents before she was put into care. Alice has clearly been very well looked after and Cathy can't understand why she couldn't stay with her grandparents. It emerges that Alice's grandparents are considered too old (they are in their early sixties) and that the plan is that Alice will stay with Cathy for a month before moving to live with her father and his new wife. The grandparents are distraught—Alice has never known her father, and her grandparents claim he is a violent drug dealer. Desperate to help Alice find the happy home she deserves, Cathy's parenting skills are tested in many new ways. Finally questions are asked about Alice's father suitability, and his true colors begin to emerge.I am a massive fan of Cathy Glass and have read all of books so far... I do find her books very difficult to read, not becuase they are bad (they defintely are not bad, they are brilliant) but because of the way the children that she has looked after had been treated before being taken into care. This particular story, although it was a very long winded slow paced story, I enjoyed all the way through because Alice was a child who was not abused physically or anything horrible like that. I loved this story and the ending was perfect.
9 out of 10
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