Genre: Contemporary Fiction

For me, reading The Museum of Lost Quilts by Jennifer Chiaverini was like coming home. Sometimes you don’t fully understand the people you’ve missed until you come in contact with them again. And then, sigh, it’s just so comforting. Chiaverini puts a note at the end that she had to change some of the futures for our favorite characters she had previously written in the novel she intended to be the last of The Elm Creek Quilters series. Let me raise my hand just to say that I don’t mind! Summer makes a surprising trip home to Elm Creek when she finds herself unable to complete her thesis and her masters degree. She is hoping that home and the people she loves will help her to complete the job. She quickly becomes involved in her familiar world (as does this reader 😀). She leads yoga, accepts the position of curator for a display of historical quilts - and through her research revisits one of her favorite places, the university library. She is even battling the bad guy - Gregory Krolich and his Universal Realty in an effort to preserve the historical Union Hall.

The characters of Elm Creek are old friends to me, I am delighted to meet up with them again. As with most friends, I was quickly back into the rhythm and remembering the individual characteristics of each and eager to hear what was new in their lives. In so many ways, Summer spoke to me this time, so I was happy to see her featured. (More later.) Chiaverini does such a good job of creating conflict and suspense in a genre that is not a thriller or even a straight up mystery. She relates directly to those of us living in communities we love and trying to do what we can to improve them. She is also excellent with infusing history into this work. Learning about the civil war has always been interesting to me and the plot points that explore the quilts of his era and their historical impact is fascinating.

So, Summer spoke to me. I guess I am currently drawn to characters who are conflicted about the direction their lives should go. She was very committed to a path and is no longer sure that the path is right for her. Her instincts send her home to the people she has loved and trusted her whole life to try and figure things out. They give her a soft place to land, but challenge her to challenge herself. I am blessed with friends and family who will do that for me. I am slow to make decisions and very quick to second guess them. I am grateful for the support I receive in those processes. Also, I am a retired librarian who has longed to be a museum curator. How can I not love that part of Summer’s journey? Librarians matter. Artifacts matter. History matters. Community matters. Family matters. Tradition matters. In The Museum of Lost Quilts, Jennifer Chiaverini illustrates these and much more. Welcome back to Elm Creek.