Maggie Hartley

'They made me do it, it wasn't my fault!' When three brothers come to live with Maggie, she knows that it's going to be challenging. They are all already struggling with rejection after their dad abandoned them, their mum having died several years before. While four-year-old Billy is a delight...

Maggie Hartley is one of the UK's most prolific foster mothers. This inspiring collection includes three heartbreaking, true short stories about the children who have passed through Maggie's care. 'Too Scared to Cry' When Ben and Damien arrive on Maggie's doorstep, the two toddlers are too...

When 16-year-old Jess arrives on foster carer Maggie Hartley's doorstep with her newborn son, Jimmy, she has nowhere else to go. Arriving straight from the hospital, having just given birth, Jess is like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Scared, alone, and practically a child herself, she is...

'Mum and Dad. Gone?' asked Louisa. 'Yes,' I nodded. 'They're gone.' After a horrific car crash, thirteen-year-old Louisa is left fighting for her life in hospital. She wakes to find that her loving, happy family has been shattered overnight, with both of her parents now dead. With no one to care...

Ruth was a ghost of a girl when she arrived into foster mother Maggie Hartley's care. Pale, frail and withdrawn, it was clear to Maggie that Ruth had seen and experienced things that no 11-year-old should have to, that she had been conditioned to 'see no evil, speak no evil'. Ruth is in...

'Mama is gone and I cry every night.' When a terrified young girl is discovered hiding in the back of a lorry, she is quickly taken into the care of social services. Arriving on the doorstep of foster carer Maggie Hartley, she is painfully thin, bruised and unable to speak a word of English...

Three-year-old Lexie, five-year-old Amelie and thirteen-year-old Leo come to Maggie after Leo confesses to a teacher that his mother's addiction problems and her latest violent relationship has left him as the sole carer to his younger sisters. Maggie welcomes the three children into her home...

'Please help me,' he said in a small voice. 'Will you help me?' Six-year-old Ralph has only been in the care system for three days and has already been rejected by three different foster carers. After hitting a teacher at his school and causing mayhem since he arrived four months ago, staff are...

Evie and Elliot are scrawny, filthy and wide-eyed with fear when they turn up on foster carer Maggie Hartley's doorstep. Aged just two and three years old, this brother and sister have hardly set foot outside their own home. They have been prisoners, locked in a terrifying world of abuse...

* The new Sunday Times bestseller * 'It's ok, Felix, don't worry. We're going to find your mummy.' When newborn baby Felix is found abandoned at a train station, the police launch a desperate search for his mum. It doesn't take long for their inquiries to lead them to Emily. While baby Felix is...

'Don't leave me here! Please, don't leave me.' What possesses a mum to kidnap her own child? That's what Maggie asks herself when she's asked to foster 13-year-old Saskia, the subject of a bitter custody battle between her parents. When Saskia's mum Rosa fears the courts are going to favour her...

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER and perfect for fans of Cathy Glass, a new powerful true story from Maggie Hartley, foster carer for over 20 years. 'Mummy! Where did you go? Please come back, Mummy.' When police are called to a local supermarket late one evening, they find an angry...

It's okay, lovely,' I soothed. 'You let it all out.' She sobbed and sobbed as all the fear came tumbling to the surface. Foster carer Maggie Hartley is finally enjoying a well-earned holiday from fostering, savouring time with her brand new baby granddaughter. One night, though, the peace and...

When Maggie's latest placement arrives on her doorstep, the three young siblings have clearly been through unspeakable traumas in their short lives. Violent, malnourished and showing signs of sexualised behaviour, the two brothers and their big sister have been left to fend for themselves by...

Fourteen-year-old Shazia has been taken into care after a conversation at school leads her teacher to suspect that the teenager's family are planning to send her to Pakistan for an arranged marriage. To her family's fury, Shazia is sent to live with foster carer Maggie Hartley whilst social...

'My heart felt heavy with sadness for these two little girls.' Foster carer Maggie Hartley is used to all manner of children arriving on her doorstep, but nothing can prepare her for sisters Billy and Bo when they arrive at her home. It is clear from the moment she sets eyes on them...

'He said he loved me.' Fourteen-year-old Hannah comes to live with foster carer Maggie Hartley after her mum pleads with Social Services to take her into care, unable to cope with her daughter anymore. Previously a good student, a loving daughter and sister, Hannah is now playing truant...

'I'm very, very bad. I don't deserve to have nice things. Nobody loves me.' Three young siblings arrive at Maggie's door after being taken into care. Teachers of eight-year-old Bobby spotted distinct hand-shaped bruises on his arm and his dad and stepmother are uncooperative and hostile to...

When six-week-old Jasmine is placed with foster carer Maggie Hartley, Maggie is delighted to have a baby in the house again. Jasmine has been taken into care over fears for her safety after the police are called to the family's home several times following her birth. Her mother, Hailey...

IS IT MY FAULT MUMMY? Seven-year-old Paris is trapped in a prison of guilt. Devastated after the death of her baby brother, Joel, Maggie faces one of her most heartbreaking cases yet as she tries to break down the wall of guilt surrounding this damaged little girl. A DESPERATE CRY FOR HELP...