YA-nightmare-plagued girl learns artist next door is her alcoholic mom

I read a book in the 1980s about a girl that (as I remember it) is spending the summer with her grandmother--or maybe being raised by the grandmother. The girl befriends the artist-woman (a painter, I think) who lives next door to her grandmother. The girl has always had a recurring nightmare of being chased down a hallway by an angry presence and has never known why. By the end of the book, she learns that the artist next door is her mother and it's explained to her that her mom is an alcoholic and gave up the girl so she'd have a better life without her. She was, of course, the angry presence from the girl's nightmares and early life.

Does this ring any bells? I've been wondering about it for years.

I thought of this book search: https://www.librarything.com/topic/162085. All the details don't quite match though. The book in that search turned out to be Step on a Crack. Hope this helps!

>2 CalicoCat: Erm, the plot described in that OP has virtually nothing in common with this one...>.>

~bump~

it's Isabelle Holland....

Pretty sure it's Now is not Too Late by Isabelle Holland....loved her when I was a kid!

Cover:

Oh my goodness, that has to be it! Thank you so much, munro!! :)

I like Isabelle Holland's books. Found this one on openlibrary.org (free to join and borrow).

Thank you, bookel, for posting the cover photo. That one doesn't look familiar, but I will look into it to see if I can find the one I remember.

Thank you both again. A childhood mystery solved thanks to you! :)