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One puzzling afternoon
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2023
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Edie Green was a lonely teen until Lucy Treddle, daughter of the mayor, befriended her in 1951. While Edie was glad that their friendship meant Lucy's friends wouldn't taunt her, Lucy had her own reasons to seek out Edie. She had secrets, and she needed Edie to keep them--which Edie did for 67 years, even after Lucy vanished and the police opened an investigation. In 2018, Edie, now dealing with dementia, thinks she sees Lucy on the street, looking just as she did in 1951. When she claims to have seen her friend, family members think Edie's just muddled again. Her granddaughter tries to help her, but she doesn't realize how desperate Edie feels. She is convinced that all the clues to finding her friend are buried in her memory and feels that if she can find Lucy, her confusion and memory loss will disappear. In dual timelines, 1951 and 2018, Edie slowly reveals the truth about Lucy and her secrets. VERDICT This beautifully written suspense novel, the U.S. debut from British poet and middle-grade author Critchley, is heartbreaking as it depicts a woman sinking deeper into dementia.--Lesa Holstine
Summary

One of People Magazine's "must-read" books!

"A clever, keep-'em-guessing murder mystery, an empathetic yet realistic portrayal of the toll dementia takes, and a meditation on how the brain can bury the most tragic memories...An outstanding must-read." --Booklist, STARRED review

I kept your secret Lucy. I've kept it for more than sixty years...

It is 1951, and at number six Sycamore Street fifteen-year-old Edie Green is lonely. Living with her eccentric mother and her mother's new boyfriend, she is desperate for something to shake her from her dull, isolated life.

So when the popular, pretty Lucy Theddle befriends Edie, she thinks all her troubles are over. Even though Lucy has a secret, one Edie is not certain she should keep.

Then Lucy goes missing.

Now in 2018, Edie is eighty-four and still living in the same small town, when one afternoon she glimpses Lucy Theddle, still looking the same as she did at fifteen. Her family write it off as one of her many mix ups, there's a lot Edie gets confused about these days. But Edie knows she's the key to finding Lucy.

Time is running out and Edie must piece together the clues before Lucy is forgotten forever.

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