The little orphan girl
(Book)

When Cissy Ryan's real mother comes to claim her from the workhouse, it's not how she imagined. Her family's tumbledown cottage has ice on the inside of its windows and is in an isolated, poverty-stricken village in the muddy Irish countryside. When Cissy is allowed to help neighbour Colm Doyle and his horse named Blue on their milk round one morning, Cissy starts to feel as though friendship could get her through anything. It's Colm who looks in on Cissy's grandfather when she starts at the village school, and Colm who tells her to hold her chin high when she interviews for a position at the grand Bretton House. In the vast mansion with its shining floors and sweeping staircase, it's Master Peter Bretton who captures Cissy's heart with his dark curls and easy laugh. As Cissy blossoms from a skinny orphan into a confident young girl, Colm tells her she's as good as anyone and she begins to believe anything is possible. Not everyone with a kind smile has a kind heart, and Cissy doesn't know that further sorrow lies in store for her.