The author recalls her spartan life in a National Children's Home and the pain of being abandoned by the mother she adored. Her misery made her determined to succeed and when, as a teenager, she left home and moved to London, she found work as a model. But it was as an actress that she was to make her name, in such films as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, The Entertainer and Alfie. Professional success assured, Shirley Anne Field was having fun. She remembers dinners with David Niven, Frank Sinatra and Warren Beatty and tells of her friendships with Steve McQueen, Dudley Moore and Albert Finney and of her marriage to racing-driver Charlie Crichton-Stuart. But the hurt of her childhood was never far from the surface and after receiving a telephone call in 1978, telling her that her mother was alive and wanted to see her, she finally found the love and comfort for which she had always yearned.