TWILIGHT CHILDREN

Two children trapped in a prison of silence and a woman suffering in thetwilight of her years - these are the cases that would test theextraordinary courage, compassion and skill of Torey Hayden and ultimatelyreaffirm her faith in the indomitable strength of the human spirit. Whileworking in the children's psychiatric ward of a large hospital, Torey wasintroduced to seven-year-old Cassandra, a child who had been kidnapped byher father and was found dirty, starving and picking though rubbish binsto survive. She refused to speak, so Torey could only imagine what she'dbeen through. Drake, by contrast, was a charismatic four-year-old whomanaged to participate fully in his pre-school class without uttering asingle word. Then, there was Gerda, eighty-two, who had suffered a massivestroke and was unwilling to engage in conversation with anyone. AlthoughTorey had never worked with adults, she agreed to help when all otherefforts had failed.