Pam and the Countess

Thirteen-year-old Pamela Romilly has always felt like the odd one in her bustling family. At Bell Bay, a windswept seaside town where the sea smells of salt and possibility, Pam channels her restless energy into one goal: becoming a Girl Guide. But the world keeps getting in the way. There's the mysterious motor car that appears without warning at Woodrising, the imposing estate that looms over the cliffs, and the enigmatic figures who seem to be hiding something. When she's not delivering messages around town or daydreaming about badges and campfires, Pam notices things other people miss. A doctor and a kind woman named Miss Anne Lasarge share glances that suggest their own secrets. The sudden arrival of the forbidding Sir Marmaduke Shard sets the gossip mills churning. As Pam navigates family tensions and her own longing to belong, she finds herself drawn deeper into the mysteries of Bell Bay, where every cliff path and coastal trail might lead to discovery. This is a book for anyone who has ever felt slightly out of step with the world, and found solace in looking closer.