Peckham Cry

This novel is set just after WW11 in South East London. Sylvia is an adopted child whose adoptive mother is dinstinctly cold and hostile towards her, while her adoptive father seems to love her - perhaps just a little bit too much. Fortunately Sylvia is a very resiliant child and can cope with the knocks dished out to her. She finds refuge in her books, and with her little pet mouse Mickey. One day however, the truth comes out and she is placed into children's homes for her own safety but they are not the safe haven one thinks. Running away from them Sylvia is placed in a mental hospital as the Welfare authorities are at their wits end as to what to do with her. Upon release, Sylvia ends up living rough on the streets, surviving as a prostitute, and only the birth of her child makes her determined to turn her life around.
This story is about finding that light at the end of a tunnel.
Child abuse is very prevalent in today's society but help is more available now. Cast your mind back to 1944 and ask whether help was available then.