As a child, I read Curry's Parsley Sage, Rosemary, and Time--the first book in this two-book series. Parsely stayed with me into adulthood, and when I read it again, it was with nearly the same delight. I didn't know about this sequel until several years ago, and then someone lovely sent it to me as a gift. I enjoyed it very much, and the plot brings the story full circle, with nothing left to wonder about,all questions (within the context of the story's logic)are answered satisfactorily. In some ways it's a better book than Parsley in terms of characterization and plot, but it doesn't have the same mysterious quality of the first. In some ways it almost doesn't need the magical elements. In some odd way they even detract from what is otherwise a "romping good" story in the tradition of Aiken and her Wolves books.

I don't remember enough of the details to summarize, but here's what's on the inside cover:

Ten-year-old Felicity's life changed completely the day sinister Parson Grout and his wife arrived at the backwoods orphanage, bringing a large, elaborately carved cupboard. Felicity was the oldest child living in the orphanage which had been founded by the Grouts in 1707 and which was run for them by the raffish Hollybush family. It didn't take Felicity long to discover why the Grouts prized the cupboard (which, to tell the truth, they had stolen) so highly. Even when empty, it could produce surprising treasure. When the Grouts decided to move west, they set off by wagon with what turned into an astonishing adventure for Felicity as the cupboard began to reveal its magic to her. It even allowed her glimpses of that far-distant time, 1976. ( )