by Patricia Clapp
published by Dell Books
Copyright 1969
Cover Illustation: Robert McGinnis
"She's dead, I tell you!
Emily's dead!"
Louisa wanted to believe her own words. But the presence of the little girl who had died twelve years before, the hateful, dark-eyed girl who always had her way, could still be felt in the Canfield mansion.
The globe in the garden glows mysteriously at night. Notes are left for the living. And young Jane, a nine-year-old orphan who had come to spend the summer with her and mother, is in touch with Emily. Emily wants her!
Admittedly, this book has a lot going on for it, cover and story wise. Not surprisingly, this Robert McGinnis cover rocks. His woman tend to have unusually long slender fingers and a penchant for touching their faces. The eerie blue glow of the garden gazing ball really give our heroine a creepy bone white quality.
I should note here the my husband's grandmother has one of these gazing balls in her back garden but sadly it does not glow. But perhaps that if for the best as it would tempt me terribly to spend the bulk I my visit standing by it and caressing my face in mock terror.
Story wise, MY GOD! Hateful, dark-eyed dead children are like gothic novel kryptonite. Who wouldn't get weak in the knees? But where is my handsome and brooding Lord of the Manor? Perhaps he could be lonely, misunderstood and have a tendency for memory lapses. MMMM