For the Girl Who Wandered Away

About the Book

A daughter lost. A family broken. A secret life begun.

For the girl who wandered away…

For the family who never stopped searching.

For the strangers who called her their own.

When seven-year-old Ella De Smet disappears one quiet morning, two families are changed forever.

One loses a daughter.

One gains a child who was never theirs.

For eleven long years, Ella grows up across the border, caught between memories she cannot hold on to and a new life that is not fully hers. She learns to love again, even as the shadow of where she came from, never leaves her.

But the past has a way of calling back.

And when Ella finally stumbles upon the truth, she does not find the reunion she dreamed of, only a sorrow deeper than she ever imagined.

This is a sweeping, heart-stopping tale of love, loss and the fragile threads of belonging.

About the Author

Maryam Zahra is a Class VII student. She lives in Islamabad with her parents and three siblings. A passionate reader of novels and books, she found her inspiration to write through the worlds she explored in stories. With the encouraging support of her parents, she turned her dream into reality through this, her very first English novel. This debut effort marks the beginning of her creative journey, and she hopes to grow further in the world of storytelling.