The boxy, spiky monkey puzzle tree stands tall and imposing outside the dormitory window of Woodmaston House For Girls, a forbidding guardian to the schools young charges. Nancy Cameron is a new arrival, not just to Woodmaston but to England. Shes rolled up from the backwoods of Canada, eager for a new life brimming with adventure. But boarding school isnt the Famous Five fantasy that Nancy had imagined. It is an austere, loveless world where budding relationships are soon put to the test. Nancy wins friends and finds solace by telling stories, but spinning stories for others cant hide the fact that Nancy feels horribly alone inside. And when she leads her dorm in a special fund-raising event that goes tragically wrong, things go from bad to worse. Nancy longs to meet the glamorous brother of her friend, Caroline, and as her troubles build its an encounter that cant come soon enough - until a shocking revelation comes to light...