In a scene that echoes "Rapunzel," Megan looks down from her tower room at a cloistered all-girls boarding school in England and observes the arrival of the new laboratory assistant, Simon Findlay. As soon as their eyes meet, their love blossoms--and Simon begins to scale the scaffolding into the tower room for clandestine trysts. But when Dorothy, the school's science teacher and Megan's guardian, discovers the young couple's affair, Megan's sheltered world is shattered forever.

ADELE GERAS was born in Jerusalem and travelled widely as a child. She started writing over twenty-five years ago and is the author of many titles for young and older readers, including the award-winning Troy. She is married with two daughters and lives in Manchester.