The Girl Behind the Gates

'Compelling. Poignant. Haunting. Heart wrenching. Just beautiful. Everyone needs to read this wonderful book.' - Renita D'Silva, bestselling author of The Forgotten Daughter

1939. Seventeen-year-old Nora Jennings has spent her life secure in the certainty of a bright, happy future - until one night of passion has more catastrophic consequences than she ever could have anticipated. Labelled a moral defective and sectioned under the Mental Deficiency Act, she is forced to endure years of unspeakable cruelty at the hands of those who are supposed to care for her.

1981. When psychiatrist Janet Humphreys comes across Nora, heavily institutionalised and still living in the hospital more than forty years after her incarceration, she knows that she must be the one to help Nora rediscover what it is to live. But as she works to help Nora overcome her past, Janet realises she must finally face her own.

Based on a true story, The Girl Behind the Gates is the raw, heart-breaking yet ultimately uplifting tale of a young woman cut down in her prime, and of the woman who finally brings her back to life, perfect for fans of The Girl in the Letter and Philomena.

'The Girl behind the Gates absorbed me from the start. A haunting, heart-wrenching but ultimately heart-warming novel told in beautiful prose and with great compassion and insight.' - Gill Thompson, bestselling author of The Oceans Between Us

'The Girl Behind the Gates is a powerful, emotional novel - harrowing in parts but always authentic and full of insights and compassion, and a sobering account of the best and worst of human nature. I was moved to tears by the ending and will certainly not hesitate to recommend it.' - Jill Childs, bestselling author of Gracie's Secret

'A powerful story of trust, compassion, healing - and the transforming power of love, that can give new life to a broken spirit.' - Sharon Maas, bestselling author of The Violin Maker's Daughter