The Memory Quilt: A Tale of Friends & Family Lost & Found in the Great Cloquet Fire of 1918

by Pamela J. Erickson

History, fantasy and mystery combine in this fictional account of the Cloquet fire and its aftermath, which is woven against the town's genuine concerns over World War I and the escalating Spanish flu epidemic. Lisa Hanson falls asleep in present day Cloquet, and wakes up to find she's been transported back in time to Cloquet on the day of the fire. Everyone she meets thinks she's Liisa Maki, her grandma's oldest sister who disappeared that day and was never heard of again. Lisa, who was named after her great aunt, has the benefit of hindsight, but is unable to do anything about the events that are about to take place.  The one thing she can do is find out what happened to Liisa. By the end of her eye-opening journey into the past, Lisa not only solves that mystery, but receives answers to questions in the present that she didn't even know she had.

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story, but a lot of detail, especially town locations and streets.

[Kelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little book. It’s a quick read that has fun twists. I’m from the area and appreciated the detail and personal view into a horrible tragedy that we need to remember. Nice job, Ms Erickson.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was a true story and it is but the true story was made into historical fiction. It was still interesting but the history of the 1918 fire in Cloquet was interesting enough without embellishing. I like to separate fact from fiction.