Abandoned: The true story of a little girl who didn't belong

Separated from her real mother at birth, Anya Peters grew up in terror of her drunken, bullying uncle. Beaten, humiliated and sexually abused by him from the age of six, she thought her life couldn't get worse. But one day it did. Anya's uncle got careless and started abusing her in front of the other children. When her brothers started calling her a 'whore', Anya cracked and all her terrible secrets came pouring out. Anya had always coped because there was one woman who loved her deeply, her 'Mummy'. But this time love was not enough. One morning 'Mummy' just left.Determined to make a new life, Anya buried her feelings and tried to move on. But when she ended up homeless, living in her car, she knew she had to face her past if she was ever going to find happiness and security again. Abandoned is Anya's inspirational story of her fight to find love, acceptance and a place to belong. Homeless and living in her car, Anya Peters started to describe her experiences by using the internet in libraries and internet cafes to write an online diary. Her diary soon built up a regular readership and helped to raise awareness of the issue of the 'hidden homeless'. Anya is no longer homeless.