"Choice is power, and Coral has none."

For nine-year-old Coral, life revolves around her family. Dad says finding the old boarding house in Fitzroy is fortuitous, given war is just around the corner. Coral doesn't know what that word means, only that they're together.

But Melbourne in 1940 is anything but predictable, and Coral and her brothers find themselves in the care of the Children's Welfare Department.

Separated from her family and classified as a ward of the state, Coral comes of age within a regimented system operating under great strain. To break free, she must reclaim her autonomy while surrounded by the procedures that daily decide her fate.

When lies and manipulation arise to destroy her dreams, she calls on her new found determination to recover the child she birthed while in care, and forge a future that goes way beyond childhood wishing.

Her plan works...

Until a telegram arrives that breaks her heart,

but not her resolve.

A compelling tale based on actual events from international award-winning author Lisa King.