I set this story in a city called St. Helen's, the UK in the 1940s and 1950s. Rose lives in a council house with her parents and siblings. WW2 is still ongoing. At 50 her father dies, which leaves her mom to raise 8 children by herself. The family is poor. Rose starts school. In Grade 2 the abuse starts at the hand of her teachers. It continues until she finishes high school. You will read how and why in the book.