Primrose is the protagonist and first-person narrator of the story. She introduces herself as an 11-year-old whose parents are both lost at sea after a typhoon off the coast of British Columbia, the southwestern most province of Canada. Primrose only describes herself as having hair the color of “carrots in an apricot glaze” (1) without including any other aspects of her appearance. Her interactions with other characters reveal that she is a guileless person who accepts the vicissitudes of life regardless of what befalls her. Though her parents are lost at sea and presumed deceased by virtually everyone else in the narrative, Primrose expresses a profound inner awareness that they are still alive, waiting on an island somewhere for rescue. The unanticipated disappearance of her parents results in Primrose moving about: from the house of her neighbor Miss Perfidy to the house/gymnasium of her Uncle Jack to the home of foster parents Evie and Bert, who live in another community.

Beyond the loss of her parents, Primrose experiences a number of significant negative events during the narrative. She is an unusual protagonist in a mid-grade novel in that her interactions are almost all with adults.