The Orphans of Halfpenny Street

Description

It’s 1948 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 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. When an unwelcome face from Billy’s past arrives on the scene, things are brought to a head. Can Billy be kept on the straight and narrow – or is it too late?