Outcast Child by Kitty Neale
Wonderful saga set in Battersea and Clapham from the author of A CUCKOO IN CANDLE LANE.
In this powerful evocation of working-class South London in the 1950s, drama and heartbreak wreak havoc in the life of young Daisy Bacon, guardian of her Cousin Lizzie.
When her mother Judith is run over and killed outside their house, Daisy retreats into a world of silence. Blaming herself for the accident, the girl is unable to utter a word. The happy family home becomes a prison, with her stepmother Vera as the cruel jailer. It is cousin Lizzie, who will always remain a child, who brings sunshine back to Daisy's life. However, only when Henry Bacon discovers his new wife's shocking secret does Daisy herself find true happiness, and in a way that she could never have anticipated...