Abandoned shortly after birth by a mother who could not protect her, Lamia grew up in a Church-run orphanage where the nuns despised her and fellow students merely feared her. For Lamia was different from all of those around her. After fifteen years of loneliness and near isolation, a stranger appeared who claimed to be Lamia's uncle. The nuns were more than happy to let her go with him, and Lamia thought that finally she might experience a loving family life. She could not have been more wrong.