Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.
This is my first book by Susan Meissner, and I was impressed! I will be reading more of her work.
I’m not much into otherworldly science fiction, but science fiction that mimics real life fascinates me. The Spanish flu has always intrigued me. To begin with, my first Michael Crichton book, The Adromeda Strain, terrified me as a teenager. A pandemic like the Spanish flu is no less terrifying, and sounds like science fiction. A teeny-tiny virus that could infect and sicken 500 million people worldwide and claim the lives of 20 to 50 million people is just mind-boggling. Years later, I read a book chronicling the Spanish flu and learned more about it. My father was born in the spring of 1918, which was the beginning of the Spanish flu in the US. Fort Dix, where Spanish flu was first diagnosed in New Jersey, is about 50 miles from our hometown. It started me wondering how my grandparents and their children were able to escape this. How did they cope? How would I cope if I were in their shoes? And lastly, I’m a bit of germophobe! Take, for instance, my last grocery shopping trip. I used the wipes to thoroughly disinfect the entire shopping cart (not just the handles), held my breath in the store when someone nearby coughed or sneezed, and tried not to touch anything unless I put it in my cart. Oh, and I just use my fingertips, as if that helps!
So, back to the book. The backdrop for As Bright as Heaven is Spanish flu. The story begins with the Bright family in the countryside of Pennsylvania. Thomas and Pauline have three daughters, and have just buried their infant son. They receive an opportunity to move to Philadelphia, and a chance to better their family’s lives. However, months later the Spanish flu hits, and their worlds are changed.
The book is narrated by Pauline and each of their three daughters. Each chronicles their lives through the Spanish flu pandemic and the aftermath, dealing with tragedies and loss while trying to find happiness. Each of the three women has a different voice, a different perspective, and a different coping mechanism. The characters are complex and fully developed, the writing is skillful and flows from one chapter/narrator to the next, and the storyline will engage you. While this is certainly a story of tragedy and loss, it also shows how the human spirit will shine as bright as heaven when faced with adversity. The ending is happy, but true to the characters, there is a unique twist to each person’s happiness. All around, this was a great historical fiction read.
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