Veil Of Fire by Marlo Schalesky

Today has been a VERY good day for reading! It's too hot to do much else...so, on to my second review of the day....

Marlo Schalesky has a knack for taking historical events and painting a portrait of what happened. Her books are factual enough to be a history lesson, and entertaining enough to make history fun again.

"Veil Of Fire" is an account of the real life Hinckley fire that took place in 1894. For reasons unknown, the entire town of Hinckley, Minnesota burned to the ground, killing over 450 people and leveling the entire area.

What Marlo has done is take historical fact and stories told by her husband's great-great-grandmother and given life to the event. The characters she created put real time events into our lives, making us remember those who suffered so long ago.

But more than just historical, Marlo teaches us about the Biblical teaching of forgiveness and the consequences of secrecy. Who is it that rejoices over the fire, and the fact that all evidence of their crime is covered in cinder and ash?

And what about "the ghost"? Is he legend, real, or imagined after the trauma of the fire? And is he a he? Does the ghost mean harm or something else entirely?

I was glued to this story until the very end...determined to uncover the mystery of what took place before this tragic fire broke out, and how the lives of these people were finally put back together.


"Veil of Fire" gets four out of five bookmarks from me...with a tiny black box as a charm; it holds the key. And you'll just have to read the story to find out why!!

Happy Reading!