Twelve-year-old Adele is placed in a bleak, cruel children's home after a family tragedy drives her mother insane. But when the owner betrays her trust Adele has no choice but to run away. Alone and friendless, she heads for Sussex, to seek out the grandmother she has never known.

Twelve-year-old Adele is placed in a bleak, cruel children's home after a family tragedy drives her mother insane. But when the owner betrays her trust Adele has no choice but to run away. Alone and friendless, she heads for Sussex, to seek out the grandmother she has never known.