A good-looking copy for its age (2003). Pages have yellowed. Some minor scuffing and shelf wear, and minor signs of use. A blocked-out inscription on the inside of the cover. Residue of an old price sticker on the back cover.
My name is Primrose Squarp. I am eleven years old. I have hair the colour of carrots in apricot glaze (recipe to follow), skin fair and clear where it isn’t freckled, and eyes like summer storms.
Primrose’s parents are lost at sea. Somewhere, she knows they’re together – on an island, rescued by a ship, perhaps in the belly of a whale. If they’d drowned, she would know.
The other inhabitants of Coal Harbour want Primrose to stop being stubborn and admit they’re gone for good. Primrose only finds refuge at the town restaurant, where Miss Bowzer serves everything on a waffle. Not just syrup and jam, but lasagne, fish and chips – at The Girl on a Red Swing, even waffles come on a waffle. And so do good jokes and sage advice, in this quirky novel filled with eccentric characters and bittersweet humour.
