The light in the window

About this book

In Ireland, 1951, the young June Goulding took up a position as a midwife in a home for unmarried mothers run by the Sacred Heart nuns. What she witnessed there was to haunt her for the next fifty years. It was a place where women were denied any contact with the outside world; denied basic medical treatment and abused for their 'sins'; where, after the birth, they were forced into hard labour in the convent for three years. Worst of all was that the young women were expected to raise their babies during these three years so that they could then be sold; given up for adoption in exchange for a donation to the nuns. June tells her own story and those of some of the women in this home and of the hardships they endured, but also the kindness she offered them, and the hope she was able to bring.