'It's so strange how your life can dramatically change from just one event. I now see my life divided into two – before the tragedy and after. Now, the present, will always be after. This is after.'

Amanda Wright was just four years old when she witnessed her mother’s brutal murder. John Dickinson, a family friend, strangled her mother to death in front of her and then he tried to do the same to Amanda. He laid their lifeless bodies out on their bed, set fire to it and left the house, hoping the fire would conceal the crime. It was the milkman who saved Amanda's life, though it was too late for mum Sue. Amanda spent weeks in hospital for painful skin graft operations on her burned legs before moving in with her grandparents. Yet, from the day of the tragedy she was haunted by flashbacks and nightmares.

On her first day of school, Amanda watched other children crying for their mummies and suddenly realised that she would never see her own mother again. It was a painful adjustment for a little girl who, until that moment, had spent her whole life with her mum. More alone than ever before she was determined not to give in, finding strength in her memories of her mother.

Without a Mother's Love is a sad, strange yet beautiful story about a girl who lost everything but found the strength inside herself to make her mother proud.

Amanda Wright

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