It won the 2008 Angus Book Award and was shortlisted for the 2007 Booktrust Teenage Prize.

The story starts with a girl, the main protagonist 'Amber' arriving at a house on Merral Road.

Poppy is obviously a disturbed and emotionally unstable child from the beginning, she "cries all the time... refusing to eat."

Amber recounts more of Poppy's previous actions and her bizarre relationship with her mother.

On the way to number 17 she bumps into an old woman from 11 Merral Road, talking to her about where in the house she lives, mentioning the attic.

When heading up the stairs Amber thinks she sees the dust shadow again in the large ornate Edwardian mirror on the landing.

Amber asks about the previous housemate who left and gets the answer that she just wanted a change.

Amber has 2 days off work, she spends the first drunk and sleeps happily, and the second hanging around with Kaz talking.

Her room "didn't feel quite right..." Amber gets into the routine of going to the phone box every day after work to call her mother.

Her mother keeps her updated about Poppy; she'd only managed 2 days of college since Amber left and is deeply depressed.

She notices her throat becoming sore, and reveals that her mother doesn't trust doctors and she gets tonsillitis twice a year.

The next day at work, Bert reveals that Marty is involved with a girl he met in the summer, and Amber's heart sinks.

Looking in the mirror again she sees the dust shape, only thinner this time, also her reflection seems to waver and move.

Kaz wedged the rocking chair with books, haunted by the noises at night.