Review: As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner

Title: As Bright as Heaven
Author: Susan Meissner
Publisher: Berkley Books
Publication Date: February 1, 2018
Edition: ebook (400 pages)
Genres:

• Fiction
• Historical Fiction

My Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Pauline and Thomas Bright, having lost their beloved infant son, decided to move to Philadelphia, in order to make a better life for their three daughters. They arrived just as the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 was beginning. They were totally unprepared for the loss of over 12,000 lives in Philadelphia, alone, not to mention Thomas and many of their friends going off to fight in World War I. Yet, through death and loss, they forge a life as a family and a community.

This is the first book I have read by Susan Meissner, and it will not be the last. Her words float off the page in a way that makes you want to keep reading. I loved these characters. I felt as though I was right there laughing, crying and living life right along side them. I read this book as a follow-up to the nonfiction book "More Deadly Than War: The Hidden History of the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic" by Kenneth C. Davis, which is also an excellent read.