Gifts of the Spirit
by Patricia Eilola
Gifts of the Spirit follows a similar pattern as Patricia Eilola's previous books— Fabulous Family Holomolaiset, A Finntown of the Heart, and A Finntown of the Soul—by taking a real life and fictionalizing it. Set it northern Minneaota, Gifts of the Spirit recounts the story of a young women who rises above her humble station without ever completely leaving it behind. Beginning with the influenza epidemic of 1918, the story continues into the 1920s on her family's small farm, were they live in relative calm, interspersed with moments of terror and excitement.