Behind the Attic Wall

Behind the Attic Wall is a children's novel by the American writer Sylvia Cassedy, first published in 1983.

At twelve, Maggie has already been sent away from a long series of foster homes and boarding schools for lying, stealing and disobedience. She arrives at Adelphi Hills, a former boarding school that stopped operating after the death of its founders, to live with her only remaining relatives: her great-aunts Lillian and Harriet, who are strict and stern and do not really care about her, and her eccentric but kind uncle Morris. The aunts intend to rehabilitate Maggie as an example of healthful living through rigid rules about nutrition and exercise, and by the end of her first day she is already in disgrace for refusing to eat her meals and for rummaging through their rooms, which they mistake for stealing. She spends much of her time alone, exploring the empty rooms and playing imaginary games, and she starts to hear faint whispering and voices calling to her from behind the closet door.

Cassedy's novel is a ghost story told at the pace of a child's lonely year, and the magic in it arrives in an old house that has already outlived the purpose it was built for.