Plot Summary

Oranges and Sunshine tells the story of Nottingham social worker Margaret Humphreys, who uncovered one of the most significant social scandals in recent history: the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom. Almost singlehandedly, against overwhelming odds and with little regard for her own well-being, Humphreys reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account, and turned worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice.She discovered a secret that the British government had kept hidden for years: 130,000 children in care had been sent abroad to commonwealth countries, mainly Australia. Children as young as four had been told that their parents were dead, and been sent to group homes on the other side of the globe, where many were subjected to appalling abuse. They were promised "oranges and sunshine"; they got hard labour and life in institutions.