[Magic Elizabeth](https://jestressforgottenstories.com/2017/12/24/magic-elizabeth/) by Norma Kassirer is part fantasy, part mystery, with a time slip element.

When Sally goes to stay with an elderly aunt she’s never met before in an old farmhouse, she finds a portrait of a young girl, who looks very much like her, wearing old-fashioned clothes and holding a doll. This young girl, also named Sally, used to live in her aunt’s house many years ago, and Sally begins to have visions of her life there and how she lost her beloved doll, Elizabeth, who is a little bit magic and is still in the house, waiting to be found. When Sally begins investigating some of the older Sally's things in the attic, she begins unraveling the mystery of what happened to Elizabeth when she vanished one Christmas, many years before.

Aunt Sarah's old farmhouse is a bit shabby, and Aunt Sarah herself strikes Sally as being witch-like at first. However, the old house is full of some wonderful, charming things, like the old melodeon (a kind of small organ), and Aunt Sarah and her cat are both less intimidating once Sally gets to know them. Aunt Sarah is thinking of selling the old house to a developer, so Sally realizes that she doesn't have much time to find Elizabeth. Part of the theme of the story is that everyone was young once, and Sally's visions of the past not only lead her to Elizabeth but also reawaken a more youthful spirit in Aunt Sarah.

I also loved the description of the [gas plant](https://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/3283) that Sally sees in earlier Sally’s memories.  If you’d like to see what a gas plant looks like when it’s lit, have a look at [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEb32gmTwZY) on YouTube.