As Bright As Heaven by Susan Meissner

 

My thoughts

I've enjoyed every book I've read by this author. My first was A FALL OF MARIGOLDS and the last one was ONLY THE BEAUTIFUL. Both were such wonderful books. All of this author's books that I have read are so good. Well written and heart touching historical. I look forward to many more. If you get a chance grab THE NATURE OF FRAGIL THINGS. You won't regret it. All of her books are good so never be afraid to read any one of them.

This book is set in the early 1900s. Starting in 1918 actually. My grandmother would have been 19 years old and possibly a new bride. I wonder what she thought of the Spanish Flu. If it scared her like it did so many others. It was a horrible time in the worlds history for sure.

You meet the Bright family. A mother, father, and three daughters. Shortly after losing their only son. They move from a farm to the city of Philadelphia where their dad takes the job of helping his great uncle in his funeral home. Shortly after they move here the men are called to war as WW1 is raging and everyone needs to do their part. Then the Spanish Flu hits and hits hard. So many die that their uncle can't handle them all. The world is dying. People are dying everywhere and there is just no room anywhere for all the bodies. Then it hits home. The Bright family will never be the same.

This story will touch your heart. It will show you how awful things were before we experienced the pandemic here. In the whole world.. again. When Covid hit us and we experienced what they did back then. The losses were great. It seems that people did try to do what was right though. This story talks about the people wearing masks. Getting vaccinated. The over crowding in the orphanages. The horrors that happened. So many lost. Then and now. It's sad yes. It happened yes. It may happen again in our great grandchildren's children's lifetime. I certainly hope not. I hope they learn from our mistakes. 

This is a good story. It has two parts. Each one touching. The second part is more about what happened to the Brights after. After the pandemic. After the war. After the girls grew up. What they did with their lives. How they moved on from heartbreaks. About a child who was such a big part of the Bright's life. It's a very emotional story. 

I gave this one 5 stars. It was very good and I highly recommend it. 

About

From the acclaimed author of Secrets of a Charmed Life and A Bridge Across the Ocean comes a new novel set in Philadelphia during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918, which tells the story of a family reborn through loss and love.

In 1918, Philadelphia was a city teeming with promise. Even as its young men went off to fight in the Great War, there were opportunities for a fresh start on its cobblestone streets. Into this bustling town, came Pauline Bright and her husband, filled with hope that they could now give their three daughters--Evelyn, Maggie, and Willa--a chance at a better life.

But just months after they arrive, the Spanish Flu reaches the shores of America. As the pandemic claims more than twelve thousand victims in their adopted city, they find their lives left with a world that looks nothing like the one they knew. But even as they lose loved ones, they take in a baby orphaned by the disease who becomes their single source of hope. Amidst the tragedy and challenges, they learn what they cannot live without--and what they are willing to do about it.

As Bright as Heaven is the compelling story of a mother and her daughters who find themselves in a harsh world, not of their making, which will either crush their resolve to survive or purify it.