First: the author. I had never heard of  Genevieve Graham  until I opened this book. I, since then, have made some research and found out that she is a young woman ( in her 40is) passionate about Canadian history. Her writing is fluid, easy to read, emotionally intense and .... when you open this book, be prepared to put it down only when you are done reading the last page. The story is taking the reader into the black alleys of London right before the second world war.  Winny's story shows the reader how orphans survived in the cold and wet London until they found a safe place in an orphanage and finally got "shipped" to Canada. How administrative institutions and so to say organizations had the power to make a paradise or a hell for those children. How they survived the most horrendous conditions, and how, until the end, pain and suffering dictated Winny's life. Being from Europe myself, and now living in Canada, I found this book a big eye-opener on what has happ