On what should have been a peaceful family vacation, fourteen-year-old Lara feels an inexplicable pull toward a towering chestnut tree behind their rental cottage. There she encounters Frederick, the ghost of a Victorian boy who died tragically during a violent storm. United by their shared love of books and outsider status-she as an adopted teen still finding her place, he as a spirit trapped for two centuries-they forge an unexpected friendship.
As Frederick helps Lara navigate both her homework and her sense of belonging with his ghostly magic, she begins to uncover the dark truth about his past and the ancient tree that holds him captive. But when their friendship takes a devastating turn, Lara must decide if some betrayals can be forgiven. During a massive storm that mirrors the night of Frederick's death, she faces a choice that could either free them both or bind them forever to the past.
In this atmospheric supernatural tale, mercy and understanding clash with centuries of loneliness, teaching Lara profound lessons about the complexity of forgiveness-and the price of letting go.