Mas passada esta dificuldade inicial e tendo-me abstraído um pouco da idade da personagem, achei a história absolutamente envolvente. Talvez Lesley Pearse nos tenha querido mostrar como as pessoas cresciam demasiado rápido naquela época. Provavelmente o defeito é meu e tudo isto era intencional. Gostei muito! Embora no início tenha tido alguma dificuldade em interiorizar que Belle era uma menina inocente e ingénua de 15 anos e que até essa idade nunca se tinha apercebido que vivia num bordel que a sua mãe geria! E isto porque as atitudes, a postura, a própria forma como se expressa depois de ter percebido tudo e da pior forma possível (testemunhando o assassínio de uma das raparigas da casa), não se coadunam com uma menina inocente de 15 anos, pareceram-me mais atitudes de uma jovem adulta já com alguma maturidade! A forma como aceitou tudo tão naturalmente, sem questionar e sem se revoltar (que isso é que eu acharia o comportamento normal de uma jovenzinha de 15 anos) não me pareceu natural, não consegui por muito que tentasse ver nela uma criança.

It was an extraordinary childhood and in all her books, Lesley has skilfully married the pain and unhappiness of her early experiences with a unique gift for storytelling. The impact of constant change and uncertainty in Lesley's early years is reflected in one of the recurring themes in her books: what happens to those who are emotionally damaged as children. With her father in the Royal Marines, Lesley and her older brother spent three years in grim orphanages before her father remarried - a veritable dragon of an ex army nurse - and Lesley and her older brother were brought home again, to be joined by two other children who were later adopted by her father and stepmother, and a continuing stream of foster children. Her father was away at sea and it was only when a neighbour saw Lesley and her brother playing outside without coats on that suspicion was aroused - their mother had been dead for some time. She was three when her mother died under tragic circumstances. Truth is often stranger than fiction and Lesley's life has been as packed with drama as her books.

Whether crime as in 'Till We Meet Again', historical adventure like 'Never Look Back', or the passionately emotive 'Trust Me', based on the true-life scandal of British child migrants sent to Australia in the post war period, she engages the reader completely.

There is no formula to her books or easily defined genre. A true storyteller and a master of gripping storylines that keep the reader hooked from beginning to end, Pearse introduces you to characters that it is impossible not to care about or forget. Lesley Pearse is one of the UK's best-loved novelists with fans across the globe and sales of over 2 million copies of her books to date.

Sonhos Proibidos by Lesley Pearse