Pamela Sykes

One of my favorites as a kid, but it took me a long time to find it again. So glad I did! (I can still imagine the fish and chips scene, with the grease dripping down to her elbow.)

When Aunt Olive dies, orphaned Lucy is sent to live with her riotous cousins. Shocked by unhappiness and unwilling to accept her new-found family, Lucy meets the mysterious Alice who may or may not be real.