Fiddling, Folklore and Family Secrets

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While author Kathleen Ernst is not a Wisconsin native, she has embraced the state’s history and made it the backdrop of much of her award-winning historical fiction. This month, Ernst comes out with her 10th book in the Chloe Ellefson mystery series, Fiddling with Fate. These cliffhanging stories are set in Wisconsin in the 1980s, where protagonist Chloe works as a curator at Old World Wisconsin (the same job held by the author for 12 years, beginning in 1982 and which inspired many of her stories). In Fiddling with Fate, the enigmatic action moves from rural Wisconsin to the Hardangerfjord region of Norway, where Chloe travels after her mother’s death to uncover family secrets and explore Norwegian history from fiddling to folklore. When she encounters a killer amidst her research, the stories of Chloe’s ancestors reveal the mysteries and the very real dangers that history has kept hidden for generations.

Ernst is a prolific writer and Fiddling with Fate is her 38th published book. A lover of history, Ernst has had creative opportunities to write about the past in both nonfiction and fiction publications, including her work with American Girl. At American Girl, she worked with a team to create the character of Caroline Abbott and write six books about her, the first of which, Meet Caroline, spent three weeks on the Publishers Weekly Top 25 Bestseller Children’s Books list.

Kathleen Ernst will appear at Books & Company in Oconomowoc for an author talk and book signing on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m.