In a non-descript building in a gentrifying corner of London, Penny is doing daily battle with her mind. She is convinced that the world beyond her door is too dangerous for her, though her heart knows it isn't. Penny's neighbour, Carla, an American expat and single mother of two teens, has lived in a coercive relationship for many years, too worn down by her controlling husband to escape her situation. Mable, Penny's upstairs neighbour, an elderly Jamaican pensioner and devout Jehovah's Witness, has sacrificed everything for her faith, including her relationship with her family. And Woman, the housekeeper and nanny on the second floor, has been trafficked. When she is not cleaning and cooking, she works in the laundrette the landlord owns on the ground floor, a hidden slave in full view of the public.

Through grocery deliveries, glimpses through windows, and overheard conversations in the stairwell, the women come to know each other. Their small acts of compassion help them each find a way to mend the broken paths in their lives.

Little Prisons

What People Are Saying

“It was a gorgeous, hopeful story which left me smiling by the end. Even if I shed a few tears along the way! Definitely cemented as one of my must-buy-authors.”

— Tilly Fitzgerald @tillylovesbooks

“Absolutely nobody explores the rawness and vulnerability of motherhood like Ilona Bannister. Nobody.”


— Kelly Hooker @kellyhook.readsbooks

“Ilona Bannister is now an auto-buy author for me…I wanted to hug every woman in this book.”

- Kailey @KMC_Reads

“An absolutely stunning, devastating, beautiful book.”

— Reader Review

“By the time I turned the last page, I felt a tremendous urge to gather these women in my arms and hold them tight.”

— Basic B’s Guide to Books & More @basicbsguide

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When I Ran Away