the ghost of crutchfield hall by mary downing hahn

Text copyright © 1989 by Mary Downing HahnĪll rights reserved. The book also contains a child's death, but as it occurs in the past, it is less likely to traumatize younger readers. What exactly does the doll have to do with crabby Miss Cooper, who lives downstairs? Or the cat who casts no shadow in the moonlight? Or the sound of a child crying in the night? Together the two girls try to unlock the mystery of the china doll. It's been awhile since I've read it, so I will use the blurb to give the main details:Ashley and her friend Kristi find a turn of the century doll in an old box buried in the rose garden. So, if you like ghosts, time travel, the turn of the century, and dolls, you will enjoy this book no matter your age. It's also a book for the doll book collector.

The 'ghost' part is secondary to these themes. Probably the intended age is one reason, but I think, too, that this is more of a ghost-timeslip book in the tradition of Philippa Pearce's 'Tom's Midnight Garden.' It's about loss and discovery, reconciliation, making peace with the past. I'm a huge ghost story fan, but this one, while being a ghost tale, certainly, also falls into the timeslip-time travel genre and isn't meant to be terribly spooky. I liked this one so much, I've since gone on to read all of her supernatural books and one or two of her reality-based books. This was the first book I'd read by Mary Downing Hahn, quite a few years ago.

The ghost of crutchfield hall by mary downing hahn