As she was growing up, Anita Venes forgot many things about her origins – who she was, where everybody else was, why she had a strange name which people kept changing. She worked hard to forget about the past, avoiding questions about her parents and other family members who had all disappeared. This was often the case for an abandoned child growing up in the care system in the 1940s. It was best to focus on the future when you might have some control over events. Fostering experiences can be good - for Anita they were not.

This is her story, a story of survival and inspiring courage to overcome the traumas of her abusive childhood. She chose to work with severely disabled children and that developed into her passion for over 40 years, eventually achieving the rewarding role of headteacher of a new school. The memorable stories of those years feature in The Broken Tree, and Anita also goes into detail about her search for her long-lost family members and the impact each made upon her life. This includes the journey of finding her brother, an internationally famous clown and mime artist, known as Potts. His story is still to be told.

Tragic at times, her tale is ultimately uplifting and inspirational for all those who struggle in life to overcome the hand they’ve been dealt.

Anita Venes grew up in the care system and knows how people growing up within that environment can struggle in later life. She is based in Derbyshire. This is her first book.