Books like Diamonds in the dust by Beryl Matthews

London, 1920. The Bentley children, twelve-year-old Tom and little Lily, are used to looking after their younger siblings, Dora and Harriet, who has been working at a factory. One morning, Dora learns her mother, Harriet, has not been at breakfast, and Tom and Lily are worried. Dora, with the help of a neighbor and a former policeman, starts to investigate. They find that Harriet Bentley was actually Dora's grandmother, who ran away from her abusive husband and raised her children on her own. Dora's father, John Bentley, is a widower who has been trying to reconnect with Harriet, but has been unsuccessful. The investigation reveals that Harriet had a brother, who was her father's lover, and that Harriet's mother was a socialite who had run away from him. Dora must confront her family's past, including her father's involvement, to uncover the truth.

First publish date: 2008