Polperran · ages 12-15

The Bell-Touched

Name: The Bell-Touched
Author: E. M. Curnow

A novel by E. M. Curnow OUT NOW · TRILOGY I

Lowen Trevane wants to crew a tall ship and leave. Then, on the night of the first autumn gale, she hears a single vast note from under the sea that nobody else seems to hear — and learns her family has been not-saying something for generations. Meanwhile, a man with charm, money and a survey drone has plans for the harbour.

Atmospheric Cornish mystery
Brave heroine, real emotional stakes
Older Polperran readers grow onwards

The first autumn gale came in with its fists up.

By half three, the sky had gone the colour of an old bruise, and the gulls had given up pretending to be birds. They hung in the wind above Polperran harbour like scraps of torn paper, shrieking as if the weather had personally offended them.

A peek inside

The first autumn gale came in with its fists up.
By half three, the sky had gone the colour of an old bruise, and the gulls had given up pretending to be birds. They hung in the wind above Polperran harbour like scraps of torn paper, shrieking as if the weather had personally offended them.
— the opening lines of The Bell-Touched