Drawing on her thirty years’ experience as a social worker in England and three Australian states, Margaret Hughes’ stories explore the dark world at the heart of modern Western society. In this hidden world, children and the elderly suffer misfortune, violence and tragedy. The perpetrators of abuse and exploitation range from poor, illiterate parents to the privileged elite. The response from the authorities is, at times, protective and benign while at other times incompetent and even destructive.

But above all else, it is the survivors who shine through. Their remarkable resilience and their uniquely creative solutions break through the adversity they have suffered.

There is symmetry between the dilemmas they face and the answers they find.