The Key to the Street - Anne Willingale (Paperback) 28-02-2018
London, 1665. For 12 year old orphan Letty Denton life has never been anything but a struggle. Brought up in an orphanage, she knows nothing of her family. Her only links are a doll and a letter written by her mother before her death. The only bright spot in the orphanage's harsh regime is her love for Alfie Melts - yet even that is taken away when the administrator sells Letty into slavery. Through hellish ordeals she finally escapes, Letty ultimately ends up under the respectable employ of Mr Hailstead. For the first time, Letty knows cleanliness and order, but life is set to change again when plague stalks the streets. Now the only things that comfort Letty are the visions she's experienced since childhood and the doll which has taken on the essence of her mother. And worse is still to come as Letty's wealthy family history is revealed, prompting a hitherto unknown cousin to send his man to search out and kill her - but he's not the only one looking for Letty. Anne's writing depicts the struggle for survival where the odds are stacked against the underprivileged. She brings to life the conditions of the time in which she writes, not of the rich, but of the poor. With an alternately sympathetic and honest look at poverty, the story never lets up the exciting pace, thundering to an end nobody can be certain about. It will appeal to historical fiction readers, as well as those who enjoy a survival story.
