Brother and Sisters, Bruises and Blisters

Disgusting food, poor living conditions and mental and physical cruelty would normally be found in a Dickens novel, but here they're fact, not fiction. This is the life of Phyllis Fisher, from the ages of 4 to 15: abandoned by her "newly returned from war" father to Nazareth House, a Catholic Convent in Bexhill on England's south coast. Brutal, honest, occasionally funny and often tragic, this heartfelt personal memoir shows a side of England long since forgotten.