A Candle in Her Room (1966)

5/2011 Oh, how I love this book. It's tightly written, suspenseful without being terribly scary, haunting and utterly infused with a gentle love. It's rooted so deeply in its place that one comes away from it loving Pembrokeshire-as-was. Full of insights into obsession, forgiveness, family and above all love, this story is one of the classics. Scary haunted doll aside, there's just so much in this book that's rewarding. We learn about war, about cruelty and madness, about art and music and dancing, about alienation and being embraced. The contrasts are telling and delicate. That's the best word for it, I think- delicate. It's a book painted on the inside of a fragile glass ball, painted with a brush two hairs wide. Highly recommended, even if you think you hate stories about evil dolls.

4/2007 Welsh spookiness, this one with an evil haunted doll, and the 3 generations of women who fall under her malevolent spell. The landscapes and supplemental characters are as lovingly drawn as the protagonists. I have loved this book for what seems like a hundred years, and it rewards every re-reading with something new. ( )

I found this book a good example of how styles in children's literature have changed greatly over the years. Anyone writing like this today would be told "show, don't tell." I myself found the constant narration of events a little distancing. And yet the reviews here and on other sites testify that this book was extremely effective in its day in scaring the life out of many readers.
This is the story of three generations of girls who live in a large English house. The most interesting of them is Melissa, the youngest, a Holocaust orphan who has trouble adjusting to a quiet English life. The interplay of feeling between Melissa and the evil doll makes up the most intriguing part of the book, as is the author's willingness to bring in modern-day events to underlie the fantasy.

I love this book!! What not to love! ( )

I read this one over and over as a child. Three generations of girls own and are haunted by a doll named Dido. Ruin comes to the family through the doll until one girl breaks the curse.

I read this novel in Elementary school, and it has stayed with me ever since. The story of three generations of girls in one family, each touched by the sorcery of a doll that gets passed down among them. Lives are forever and tragically changed, because of Dido, until the youngest girl is finally able to overcome the curse. ( )