Elaine Wilk was a reader until the end, filling her home over the years with books stacked high in her personal library.

Purported American psychics Edward Cayce and John Edward caught her attention for a time. She devoured anything by Sherman Alexie, a Native American author who grew up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. And as she neared the end of her life in 2011, it was art books, inspiration for the hours she spent with a palette of watercolors and a brush in her hand.

But perhaps one nondescript red book should have caught Wilk’s attention sooner: a copy of “Mrs. Miniver” by Jan Struther, checked out and overdue from the now nonexistent Vancouver High School library by, oh, more than 70 years.

“I had to laugh about it,” said Kasia Wilk, Elaine Wilk’s daughter, who came across the novel while downsizing her mother’s expansive collection.

Kasia Wilk, who lives in Federal Way, did the only thing she could think to do. She returned the book, shipping it to Fort Vancouver High School, which traces its roots to the old Vancouver High.