Primrose Squarp introduces herself as an 11-year-old citizen of the village of Coal Harbour, British Columbia, Canada. She has red-orange hair and freckles. Primrose explains that both her parents disappeared on the Pacific Ocean during a June typhoon. Primrose writes that the community held a memorial service for her parents, but she did not attend because she has an unshakable knowledge that her parents are still alive.

The day of the typhoon, her mother took Primrose next door to the home of Miss Perfidy and explained, “John is out there somewhere and I don’t know if his boat is coming safely into shore, so I’m going out there in our sailboat to find him” (1). When neither of her parents returns, Primrose finds herself living with Miss Perfidy, who is quite elderly and fussy. The town council agrees to pay Miss Perfidy $3 an hour out of the Squarps’ bank account, which runs out of funds within a couple of months.

In August, the town council involves Miss Honeycut, the school counselor who is a world traveler and a British royal from a well-heeled family. Miss Honeycut, during a meeting with Primrose, the counselor, and Miss Perfidy, keeps referring to Primrose’s parents as dead.