Lia was born in the 1930's into a peasant community in the Italian Dolomites. Her story begins with her lying, hungry and crying, in a cupboard drawer with her mother and brother dead in the same room. She tells of her life growing up in the mountains with a foster family and of wartime experiences under German occupation. At the age of twelve she was sent to an orphanage where she experienced cruelty and deprivation. At eighteen she came to England on a one-year contract to work as a domestic in a boarding school, but stayed and still lives here, although tragedy has never left her alone for long. In 1963, following a disaster that destroyed her home village and much of her family, the Italian Government asked for her help in identifying victims. This is a story of strength of character related with a sense of humour and intelligence. It is a search for identity, love and belonging in a life of hardship, cruelty and rejection.