The Girl Next Door

When Marcia and her friend Janet move to a new city apartment, they notice the house next door, Benedict's Folly, always dark, always shuttered. But it's not empty. A girl their age, Cecily Marlowe, lives there with an elderly woman who wears a veil and never lets her near the windows, never lets her play with other children, never explains why Cecily was sent to her after her mother died. The two girls sense something deeply wrong behind those closed doors, and they make it their mission to befriend the isolated Cecily and uncover the truth of her strange captivity. What begins as childhood curiosity becomes a test of loyalty and courage as the girls press against the secrets of a house that seems designed to keep a girl hidden from the world. Seaman writes with quiet urgency about the bonds of girlhood friendship and the determined investigation of three girls who refuse to accept that some mysteries should stay buried.