Notes

Summary: Ten-year-old Ashley and her recently widowed mother move into a new apartment, owned by Miss Cooper. Their landlady is an elderly, embittered spinster who is suspicious of her tenants. Ashley and her new friend, Kristi, explore a forbidden part of the garden and find an antique doll buried there. A note attached to the doll arouses Ashley's curiosity and then a strange white cat lures her into another world, of long ago, to meet Louisa, the former owner of the doll. A time-slip novel that holds the reader's interest, this is a well written, intriguing fantasy. The mystery and suspense will appeal but the story deals as well with a number of issues: loyalty, coping with changes in our lives, understanding grief and coming to terms with death.