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Mummy's Little Girl
The moving, unforgettable new novel from the author of the bestselling inspirational memoir 'The Little Prisoner' Life was never going to be easy for little Dani Sinclair! On a cold winter's night, a heavily pregnant teenage girl appears at a London hospital. She refuses to give her name, and gives birth to a baby girl. But immediately after the birth, she disappears, leaving the baby alone in the hospital. The child, named Dani after the midwife who delivered her, is put up for adoption. Twelve years later Dani is living with a foster family. A vulnerable and unworldly girl, Dani is an inconvenience and always being blamed for things that aren't her fault. After being wrongly accused of performing an act of petty childish spite, Dani is sent to a children's home. The home is full of difficult children, who bully and victimise Dani. Terrified of both the children and the grown-ups, she runs away. Dani spends several nights on the streets of London, begging for food. When a stranger offers her something to eat and a place to sleep, she accepts gratefully. But what she does not know is that this man is a brutal pimp who tries to drag Dani into a violent, drug-fuelled world of prostitution. Soon she is plunged into an unimaginable nightmare of abuse that she truly believes will never end. But there is one person out there searching for Dani; one person who has her best interests at heart; one person who will do anything to save her. It's just a matter of whether she can find her in time!
- GenresFictionTrue Crime
368 pages, Paperback
First published November 3, 2008
27 people are currently reading
478 people want to read
About the author
Jane Elliot
20 books32 followersI am no longer on Goodreads. You can contact me at my gmail account, under the name janethunder.
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Thanks for reading!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
December 12, 2013
brilliant book from start to finish.
February 2, 2020
Horrifying, but parts of it not very believable. Fast and disturbing read.
March 14, 2014
Life was never going to be easy for little Dani Sinclair…
On a cold winter's night, a heavily pregnant teenage girl appears at a London hospital. She refuses to give her name, and gives birth to a baby girl. But immediately after the birth, she disappears, leaving the baby alone in the hospital. The child, named Dani after the midwife who delivered her, is put up for adoption.
Twelve years later Dani is living with a foster family. A vulnerable and unworldly girl, Dani is an inconvenience and always being blamed for things that aren't her fault. After being wrongly accused of performing an act of petty childish spite, Dani is sent to a children's home. The home is full of difficult children, who bully and victimise Dani. Terrified of both the children and the grown-ups, she runs away.
Dani spends several nights on the streets of London, begging for food. When a stranger offers her something to eat and a place to sleep, she accepts gratefully. But what she does not know is that this man is a brutal pimp who tries to drag Dani into a violent, drug-fuelled world of prostitution. Soon she is plunged into an unimaginable nightmare of abuse that she truly believes will never end.
But there is one person out there searching for Dani; one person who has her best interests at heart; one person who will do anything to save her. It's just a matter of whether she can find her in time…
This was the second Jane Elliott book I read, the first being 'Sadie' which I thought was so good she couldn't possibly write anything better, but she did and it's 'Mummy's Little Girl'. This book blew me away.
I don't even know where to begin with reviewing this book. I felt so many emotions I didn't even know I had whilst reading it, even somebody made of stone would shed a tear at this!
There isn't much I want to say about this book because I don't want to give any of it away. The characters were believable, Elliott makes you feel so close to where all the action is taking place and you could picture the scene so vividly you could almost be in the same room. My heart was racing a few times towards the end of the book. The book deals with issues that not many people would like to touch on and I think this is what makes it such a good read.
The twist at the end was no surprise, but that didn't spoil the book at all. I suggest that do whatever you can right now to go and buy this book, I promise you will love it.
On a cold winter's night, a heavily pregnant teenage girl appears at a London hospital. She refuses to give her name, and gives birth to a baby girl. But immediately after the birth, she disappears, leaving the baby alone in the hospital. The child, named Dani after the midwife who delivered her, is put up for adoption.
Twelve years later Dani is living with a foster family. A vulnerable and unworldly girl, Dani is an inconvenience and always being blamed for things that aren't her fault. After being wrongly accused of performing an act of petty childish spite, Dani is sent to a children's home. The home is full of difficult children, who bully and victimise Dani. Terrified of both the children and the grown-ups, she runs away.
Dani spends several nights on the streets of London, begging for food. When a stranger offers her something to eat and a place to sleep, she accepts gratefully. But what she does not know is that this man is a brutal pimp who tries to drag Dani into a violent, drug-fuelled world of prostitution. Soon she is plunged into an unimaginable nightmare of abuse that she truly believes will never end.
But there is one person out there searching for Dani; one person who has her best interests at heart; one person who will do anything to save her. It's just a matter of whether she can find her in time…
This was the second Jane Elliott book I read, the first being 'Sadie' which I thought was so good she couldn't possibly write anything better, but she did and it's 'Mummy's Little Girl'. This book blew me away.
I don't even know where to begin with reviewing this book. I felt so many emotions I didn't even know I had whilst reading it, even somebody made of stone would shed a tear at this!
There isn't much I want to say about this book because I don't want to give any of it away. The characters were believable, Elliott makes you feel so close to where all the action is taking place and you could picture the scene so vividly you could almost be in the same room. My heart was racing a few times towards the end of the book. The book deals with issues that not many people would like to touch on and I think this is what makes it such a good read.
The twist at the end was no surprise, but that didn't spoil the book at all. I suggest that do whatever you can right now to go and buy this book, I promise you will love it.
March 12, 2010
Excelent,cudnt put it down xxx
Read
June 20, 2010a very good book
December 8, 2014
Could not put this down. So sad and terrifying! I was on edge the entire time reading it!
November 2, 2011
Heartwrenching and very sad. Follows the life of a young girl who is abused and then is reunited with the mother who abandoned her at birth.
August 5, 2014
Brilliant book!! I like the fact it is fast-paced and I couldn't wait to see whether she would find her little girl and what would happen to the "baddies".
April 15, 2012
You just have to keep on turning the pages.
April 14, 2013
I loved this story. made me want to shake some people, but that's good to incite such emotion!!
April 19, 2015
Omg !!! Amazing tragic story. I couldn't wait to see how it ended that I finished this book so fast. I imagined it like a movie playing. They should make it into a movie.
September 4, 2017
Not the best of endings but a touching story that I'm happy to read again.
September 27, 2020
One day!
One day is all it took to write this heartbreaking and dramatic read!
I was pulled in from the very first chapter and felt sad as I read what Hayley and Dani both endured at young ages, knowing that, although this book was fiction, then this type of horror does go on, and there are children out there who are abused, unloved and made to feel unworthy. I look at my children and I can’t imagine them ever feeling pain as Hayley and Dani do. I read with horror as the abuse spanned over the book, not wanting to read or be a witness to it, but at the same time willing there to be a good outcome. The story had me gripped, and I prayed for the moment that Baxter would get his comeuppance - great story! It is tainted by the thought of how close to reality this is, and my heart aches for all those children out there who experience this type of pain and suffering.
One day is all it took to write this heartbreaking and dramatic read!
I was pulled in from the very first chapter and felt sad as I read what Hayley and Dani both endured at young ages, knowing that, although this book was fiction, then this type of horror does go on, and there are children out there who are abused, unloved and made to feel unworthy. I look at my children and I can’t imagine them ever feeling pain as Hayley and Dani do. I read with horror as the abuse spanned over the book, not wanting to read or be a witness to it, but at the same time willing there to be a good outcome. The story had me gripped, and I prayed for the moment that Baxter would get his comeuppance - great story! It is tainted by the thought of how close to reality this is, and my heart aches for all those children out there who experience this type of pain and suffering.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 2, 2021
This is a very dark and disturbing tale of what probably happens more often than I'd like to think. Dani is abandoned at birth and enters the care system only to be abused by her foster family. She is put into a care home, where more abuse happens so she runs away and ends up as a prisoner, a prostitute and a heroin addict at the age of 12. Luckily, she is eventually rescued by her birth mother (after witnessing a murder) but all these ACES would have left her with serious mental health issues. I'm glad this book is fictional but it makes me sad to think that these things do happen to children and I'm not sure what I can do to protect them.
March 1, 2022
I have just finished this book. This book is dark, but beautiful. Beautiful in the sense that the relationship between the girl and Ellie is so deep.
Ellie is going through a lot and to see her dealing with a drug addiction while trying to take care of the little girl is so heartbreaking.
It is a book where we deal with drugs, rape, alcohol, mental and physical abuse so it is not an easy read.
However, it was a page turner, for me, the entire book worth 5 starts.
I feel sad about the story because no one should go through such a thing but it so well written that you cannot put the book down.
Ellie is going through a lot and to see her dealing with a drug addiction while trying to take care of the little girl is so heartbreaking.
It is a book where we deal with drugs, rape, alcohol, mental and physical abuse so it is not an easy read.
However, it was a page turner, for me, the entire book worth 5 starts.
I feel sad about the story because no one should go through such a thing but it so well written that you cannot put the book down.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 6, 2022
One of my favourite books
The writing is immaculate - the premise and plot is frighteningly believable - these things happen even to this day all around us and it gets overlooked every single day.
Some very graphic scenes that can cause upset and really open your eyes to dark underground world of London. Fascinating characters will keep you hooked on every single page
This is a book I’ve read a few times now and keeps me thinking about it for days on end after a read
Very powerful and emotional definitely recommend
The writing is immaculate - the premise and plot is frighteningly believable - these things happen even to this day all around us and it gets overlooked every single day.
Some very graphic scenes that can cause upset and really open your eyes to dark underground world of London. Fascinating characters will keep you hooked on every single page
This is a book I’ve read a few times now and keeps me thinking about it for days on end after a read
Very powerful and emotional definitely recommend
March 31, 2020
Una storia toccante che fa rimanere incollati al libro fino alla fine, l’ho letto in un giorno da quanto non riuscissi a staccarmene! La storia di una ragazzina sfortunata che si affaccia al mondo della prostituzione per sopravvivere ma è una storia anche di prigionia e amicizia veramente commovente...tanto più che è una storia vera!
December 11, 2021
I found this story to be sad. Frightening that this could easily happen to some children & some things similar probably have.
Some of the narrative was good, but also as the story went on, also unbelievable. The ending was a bit far fetched to expect us to easily accept.
I have given two stars as I kept reading to the end of the book.
Some of the narrative was good, but also as the story went on, also unbelievable. The ending was a bit far fetched to expect us to easily accept.
I have given two stars as I kept reading to the end of the book.
July 21, 2020
I loved this book so much I read it in 24 hours.
She wrote so well to describe the utter hell the little girl is put through. So horrifying yet you couldn’t stop reading it.
Definitely not a light book but gives a snapshot into an evil world that isn’t too far from us.
She wrote so well to describe the utter hell the little girl is put through. So horrifying yet you couldn’t stop reading it.
Definitely not a light book but gives a snapshot into an evil world that isn’t too far from us.
September 25, 2021
I wrongly thought this was a true story until I started to read it. It was quite disturbing and sad in places but the further into the book I got it seemed to be very unrealistic and a bit predictable. It was a good read, but The ending was disappointing and rushed I thought.
April 7, 2024
Gripping page turner but a bit disturbing for me as a mother. Personally, I find that It’s hard to deal with children going through such intense and traumatic events. But well written and keeps u hooked till the end.
February 5, 2019
Good book
This was a well written book. I really enjoyed reading this. I recommend this book. Also recommend Little Prisoner by Jane Elliot
This was a well written book. I really enjoyed reading this. I recommend this book. Also recommend Little Prisoner by Jane Elliot
February 25, 2020
Gripping
July 28, 2020
An excellent book, well written and makes you want to cry with some of the story which you know happens in real life
October 4, 2024
Heartbreaking!
May 16, 2025
Fantastic read
Totally kept me hooked from start to finish. Hard in places to read due to the content however unfortunately it's what some kids endure at the hands of preditors
Totally kept me hooked from start to finish. Hard in places to read due to the content however unfortunately it's what some kids endure at the hands of preditors
December 23, 2025
So sad and terrifying, I couldn’t put this book down!
January 8, 2026
An okay read, glad it was a fictional story but could understand how some of this content could be non-fiction
Read
January 21, 2013This book had me on the edge of my seat.. It was so sad.. I liked how it ended
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews