From a young age, Lal always wanted a typical 2.4 nuclear family, not even realising that she was being abused by the man claiming to love her. Once the realisation hit, her life crumbled. Lal had to run away in the night with her small children to a women's refuge where she spent over a year before finding a place to call home. The story follows the relationships with the other women and children - the ups and downs of living in a house of displaced characters with severe issues. Whilst domestic abuse and neglect of women in society is the heart of the story, it is also about being in your darkest hour and somehow finding some light and a sense of hope. For people who have never experienced or cannot understand domestic abuse issues, this true-life memoir will help to open people's minds and bring about much-needed conversations. *Previously released as 'Surviving Bleak House'.