A love story that touched the heart of the nation when it was broadcast on BBC Radio Four. Alan and Irene first met in a cold, regimented children's home in the fifties when he was seven and she was nine. Both had lost their mothers when they were very young. When a car drew up outside the home, seven year-old Alan was staring out of the window. And when he saw a little girl with red hair and freckles step out onto the pavement, he knew, in that instant, that she was someone special. Over the next year or so the children were inseparable. But close friendships weren't encouraged and Alan was sent away without any explanation and no goodbye. Not Without You contains painful memories of loneliness, unspeakable cruelty, and a total lack of empathy with what it means to be a child. Despite being forcibly parted their bond was never broken and each started an incredible journey to find the other again. This is a love story that stretches across what is now fifty years and it demonstrates an ultimate truth: that love will always find a way.