The key to the street - Anne Willingale

London, 1665.For 12 year old orphan Letty Denton life has never been anything but astruggle. Brought up in an orphanage, she knows nothing of her family. Her onlylinks are a doll and a letter written by her mother before her death. The onlybright spot in the orphanage's harsh regime is her love for Alfie Melts - yeteven that is taken away when the administrator sells Letty into slavery.

Through hellish ordeals she finally escapes, Lettyultimately ends up under the respectable employ of Mr Hailstead. For the firsttime, Letty knows cleanliness and order, but life is set to change again whenplague stalks the streets. Now the only things that comfort Letty are thevisions she's experienced since childhood and the doll which has taken on theessence of her mother. And worse is still to come as Letty's wealthy familyhistory is revealed, prompting a hitherto unknown cousin to send his man tosearch out and kill her - but he's not the only one looking for Letty.

Anne's writing depicts the struggle for survival where theodds are stacked against the underprivileged. She brings to life the conditionsof the time in which she writes, not of the rich, but of the poor. With analternately sympathetic and honest look at poverty, the story never lets up theexciting pace, thundering to an end nobody can be certain about. It will appealto historical fiction readers, as well as those who enjoy a survival story.