The business - Martina Cole

Imelda Dooley is scared. Really scared. She's played hard and fast and now she's been caught. She's pregnant and she's on her own. So Imelda Dooley tells a lie. A lie that literally causes murder.

When Mary Dooley's husband is killed, she knows she must graft to keep the family afloat. And graft she does, becoming a name in her own right. But she still has to watch her daughter's life spiral into a vicious hate-filled cycle of drugs and prostitution.

Caught up in the carnage that is Imelda's existence are Mary's adored grandchildren, Jordanna and Kenny. Pretty little Jordanna isn't yet three and she already knows far too much. All the little girl can do is look after her baby brother and try not to draw unwanted attention to herself.

Set in the heart of London's criminal world, from the tail end of the seventies up to the present day, The Business is a gritty, disturbing and haunting tale of drugs, prostitution and a young girl's fight for survival – against all the odds.