Beautifully written, heartbreaking story of four females in Philadelphia in 1918 during the Spanish Flu. I loved this book, as I have other books by Susan Meissner and would highly recommend to anyone who loves historical fiction.

Thank you to Berkley Publishing for the free review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

From the first page, I was drawn into this novel because of the immense amount of detail used. Meissner wonderfully showed the scenes and made it so easy to relate to the characters. I felt like I was in the Bright family while reading this novel, which always means the author did a fantastic job with it.

During this novel, I could feel the emotions of the characters. I was experiencing their pain, joy, trauma, and love right along with them. I like how each main woman in this novel gets their own chapters. It made it so they all could be complexly developed that led to wanting to read more about each of the women. I was engrossed in each story and found that by highlighting each woman that their issues were able to be explored more deeply.

This novel doesn’t come out until February 6, but now is a great time to go ahead and pre-order it. It will be a perfect late winter read.

Love Susan Meissner stories. She is an excellent historical fiction writer. Can't wait for the next one!

Susan Meissner has a way of pulling me right into a book and making it hard to put it down. The story is beautifully told, a story of loss, but also one of hope. I have to admit I didn't know much about the Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918, I had no idea how devastating this Pandemic was world wide. The Bright family, moves from Quakerstown, Pennsylvania to the big city of Philadelphia. The story is told by four different members of the Bright family, from the mother to the youngest child. The Bright family moves to Philadelphia to help run a family based undertaker business. I got caught up in each of the characters, I loved this book!

Blisteringly honest look at the devastation of the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic beautifully captured in the story of one young family. The character development of each of the three daughters gives a great breadth to the story as it is told from three unique perspectives. Reading about the devastation of the pandemic and how this family persevered gave me a new perspective on the lives of my grandparents who lived through this as well as prohibition. "Baby Boomers" will appreciate this look at the lives of their grandparents. Unfortunately the title does not give a clear picture of the contents of this story; it is simply a play on the surname of the family, Bright.

Review My Review of “As Bright As Heaven” by Susan Meissner

I love the vivid descriptions of the setting and the characters in “As Bright As Heaven” by Susan Meissner. The genres for this story are Historical Fiction and Fiction. The story setting for this story is mostly in Philadelphia, and some other areas as described in the story. The timeline of the story is around 1918, when there is the Spanish flu epidemic and carries through the Great War, World War One, and after.

The characters are described as complex complicated and confused, mostly dictated by the devastating times. The Bright family moves to Philadelphia to hope for a better life, where the husband will be working in his Uncle’s Funeral Home. Pauline Bright has lost her baby son, so this move for her family looks like it could be positive. Despite the fact that men are headed to fight in The Great War, the possiblility of the new move for Pauline, her husband and three daughters seems like a wonderful chance and new beginnings.

The Spanish flu epidemic has grasped hold of much of the country and soon schools and public places are closed. There are many deaths. The funeral home doesn’t have space for all the deceased bodies. Moving to Philadelphia, where the population is greater, and there are so many sick people may not have been such a great choice.

Pauline volunteers to go to the poorer part of town to deliver food and materials to sick people. Her daughter accompanies her. While Pauline goes to one of the apartments, Maggie hears the cries of a young baby. She sees that the mother is dead, and brings the baby to her mother Who will care for the little boy?

Despite the heartbreaks and challenges, the family looks at the choices they have to make. Are there really all good choices, or all bad choices?

I appreciate the historical research that Susan Meissner has done for this time period. The Spanish Flu doesn’t discriminate between the rich and poor, or the young or old. I also love that the author discusses the importance of family, friends, good neighbors, loyalty, courage, kindness, being helpful, love, hope and faith. I would highly recommend this book for readers of Historical Fiction. I received an Advanced Reading Copy for my honest review.
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Set in Philadelphia, during and after the the Spanish Flu epidemic, this is the story of a mother , her daughters and an orphaned infant. It is a heartbreaking and poignant story, told through the voices of the children. I could not put this down.

Susan Meissner is an accomplished writer of historical fiction (see A Bridge Across the Ocean). This story, spanning the years 1918 to 1926, follows a Philadelphia family as it experiences the final months of World War I, the ravages of the wide-spread Spanish flu epidemic, and the long-lasting effects of both events.

We become a close observer of three teen-aged sisters – Evelyn, Maggie, and Willa – each of whom has a distinct personality and voice. Evie, the oldest, is the scholar, practical and level-headed. Maggie, in the middle, is caring and passionate. Willa is willful and possesses a temper; she is no stranger to smashing delicate objects when she doesn’t like the way things are going. Their mother, Pauline, is a quiet woman mourning the recent loss of her infant son from a defective heart, and their father, Thomas, is a hard-working man who is learning his uncle’s trade as a mortician. The unexpected flu deaths of family and friends and the aftermath of war touch them all, and each sister copes in her own way.

The story is narrated in alternating chapters by one of the girls or their mother. The chapters are fairly short, and I found the continuous change in point of view disconcerting at times. While first-person narration seems to be the thing nowadays, this story could easily have been told by an omniscient author in the third person, allowing the reader to feel less thrashed about.

The book starts out slow; nothing significant seems to happen for the first twenty-five percent. Once the flu hits, the pace picks up, and one gets a real sense of what life was like in that dreadful era. The ending is almost too tidy, but the story has enough tragedy that one can simply accept and appreciate the good.

4.5/5 Stars. What a fantastic and heart wrenching novel. But also heart wearing and happy.
I’ve never read a novel in this time period before and especially not one that involved the Spanish flu. I can’t even imagine living thru such a horrific event. I highly recommend this novel, as I do all of this author’s work.

I received a free e-reader copy of this book through the publisher.

I fell in love with this author's writing style when I read A Bridge Across the Ocean and she continues to deliver a story with this book that is impossible to put down despite being a completely different setting and time period. I cared so much about the characters and what happens to them in the book. It made my heart soar and cringe as they grow up and evolve. I usually hate when a book skips several years, but in this case, it didn't detract from the story at all.

Did you know that the Spanish Flu killed more people than the Black Plague? I certainly didn't, nor did my tween daughter who dressed up like a Black Plague Doctor for Halloween and loves those odd kind of facts. This is a historical fiction account of one family's experiences during the Spanish Flu in Philadelphia.

I hope I can do this novel justice as I review it because this was such a touching, heartfelt, amazing book that this is one not to miss. This story begins with the Bright Family, a family living in Quakertown, Pennsylvania in 1918, they are father Thomas, wife, Pauline and their 3 daughters, Evelyn, Maggie and the youngest, Willa. Here the Bright family together make a meager living drying and rolling tobacco leaves to make as cigars but they are a close knit family who together dream of a better life for themselves when Thomas's elderly uncle who runs a mortuary invites them to help him run it in Philadelphia. As they settle into a nicely improved life, The Great War looms on and The Spanish Flu epidemic begins to invade the city reaching their family and friends. This was such a deep touching novel that parts of it made me cry which I usually don't do. It was also warm and hopeful, I felt the anguish and fears The Bright family felt as they struggled to make sense of what was happening to them and the people they loved during this tragic and depressing time. Without giving away anymore of the synopsis, this book is one not to pass up and I am glad for having spent the time reading it. Highly recommended.

Thank you to author Susan Meissner, Natalie Sellars at Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for sending this to me for an honest review.

As Bright As Heaven is a beautifully written story about a family...its loves, its heartaches, its passions. It starts with an intriguing premise, as the family lives above a mortuary, and they all become involved in the family business. But there is no morbidity, the story is not maudlin...the focus of this story is on the living, a family who tends to the bereaved families as well as the deceased. The story takes us through WWI and the Spanish flu epidemic, and how the lives of the Bright family are impacted by these horrific events. The characters in this book, the parents and their three daughters, were like dear friends from the very beginning of this book. My heart celebrated their joys, my heart broke through their sorrows.

4.5 stars

What an amazing book. This is the second book by Meissner that I have enjoyed. Her book The Secrets of a Charmed Life was an amazing audiobook. So I was thrilled to receive an ARC of her newest book, As Bright as Heaven.

This is an intimate look at how one family deals with loss, death, and war. There are four alternating points of view. At times, this book gutted me. I haven't had an ugly cry since reading The Nightingale. Grab your tissues because you will need them.

" We only see a little bit of our stories at a time, and he hard parts remind us too harshly that we're fragile and flawed. But it isn't all hard. Your story isn't all hard parts. Some of it is incredibly beautiful."

I received an advance review copy of this book from the Great Thought's Ninja Review Team. All opinions are my own.

This powerfully written story of love, loss and hope takes place in Philadelphia during World War One. Thomas and Pauline Bright leave their small town of Quakertown for Philadelphia so that Thomas can learn the undertaking business from his childless Uncle Fred. The family of five with their three daughters Evie, Maggie and Willa leave everything they know and love behind to move to Philadelphia. What starts as a dream for a new future quickly becomes a nightmare as the Spanish Influenza creeps quietly into Philadelphia and changes their lives dramatically. After twelve thousand die the family is left with devastation, an orphan child, and the need to rebuild their lives. This is a wonderful story and a page-turner all rolled into one. A must read.

Full disclosure- I relish well-crafted historical fiction. Susan Meissner writes well-crafted historical fiction. What I love about her novels is her focus on lesser known events in history. Those events whose stories haven't been told thousands of times. This time the focus in on the 1918 Flu pandemic.

The story takes place in Philadelphia and is told her two parts, 1918 and 1925 through multiple narrators, Pauline Bright, her undertaker husband and their three daughters- Evie, Maggie and Willa.

The characters and their reaction to shared experiences are compelling, vivid and genuine. If you are looking for a book with love, loss, hope, secrets, drama and family- add this to your list!

Be prepared to fall into the internet rabbit-hole to learn all you can about the 1918 Flu pandemic. Isn't that what happens when you read amazing historical fiction?

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkeley Books for an Advanced Reader Copy in enhance for an honest review.

Some books grip you and never let you go. The cover was beautiful and the pages inside even more so

I happen to be a big fan of historical fiction so this book immediately caught my attention. The novel opens in January of 1918, Tom and Pauline are grieving the recent loss of their infant son and decide to uproot their family (3 young daughters) from rural Pennsylvania to the bustling city of Philadelphia so Tom can work with his Uncle and eventually take over his funeral home business. Soon after their move, more and more American soldiers join/are drafted into WWI and the Spanish Flu spreads across Philly and the rest of the world. Times are unbelievably difficult and their family must stick together in order to survive. In the midst of all of the chaos surrounding them, they end up finding an orphaned baby boy who they take in and take care of. The baby boy, who they affectionally name Alex is a welcomed distraction and provides the family hope when they need it the most. Fast forward 7 years later, to Part Two of the book, where we get to see how the family has grown and evolved. I love when a novel is written like this as I find it very interesting to see how characters are impacted by certain events and situations years after, and it gives the reader closure as we get to really close the loop on story lines. Every character in this book is dynamic, they all have good intentions but at the end of the day, they are human and don’t always make the right decisions, especially in such trying circumstances. This book has everything; family, love, loss, history, hope and heartbreak. I cried more times that I would like to admit (and tried to hide it on a packed commuter train) but I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. I recommend this book wholeheartedly and cannot wait to get my hands on another one of Susan Meissner’s books!

Have read other books by this author and had recently recommended another book of author's for a book club discussion. Good historical fiction .

“Love something long enough and true enough and fate will tear it out of your hands if it chooses and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Loved the setting of this book, during WWI and the Spanish Flu epidemic in the U.S at the time. I was not at all familiar with this era, having read more WWII historical fiction. However, this book dealt with family relationships and boy, do I know about those! Are we predestined in our familial relationships or do we have any control over them?
The Bright family moves to the big city, in hopes of a better life and to a degree, achieved it, but at what price. Was their fate sealed, or could they change it? I loved the development of the characters in this family and description of their surroundings. The author did an excellent job of describing their circumstances, dilemmas, and challenges. I would imagine this would be a good pick for a book club discussion.

Sue Meissner’s books just get better and better with each new one; every time I pick up her latest book I hope that it will be as good as her last ones, and instead I end up liking the newest one the most. Very few authors can sustain that level of excellence; it is quite an impressive feat. As Bright as Heaven is simply fantastic: Meissner’s tale is fascinating, heartbreaking and an all-around beautifully written book. Moreover, her characters are well-developed, authentic and believable. Using the four Bright females as narrators was a solid and effective choice; their various stories are slowly unfurled as the pages fly by. Each female character has a distinct personality, and I was constantly awestruck at how Meissner chose the perfect individual to reveal a particular secret or fact.

I knew virtually nothing about the Spanish Flu epidemic in the United States (I knew that it had devastated parts of Europe) at the end of World War 1 before I read As Bright as Heaven. Learning about events like this is one of my favorite things about historical fiction, and I especially enjoyed that aspect in this book because it was a significant event about which I am glad I now know occurred. In her Author’s Note, Meissner states that the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919 was the deadliest disease in history, significantly worse than the Black Plague, and she chose it because it was an untold story. I am so glad that she did.

There are times when I am reading a novel, and the events occurring are such that I cannot see an ending that will be satisfactory to me. There were two such plot lines in As Bright as Heaven. Without including any spoilers, Meissner managed to wrap both issues up successfully (one better than the other but both reasonable resolutions) which I felt was no small feat.

I highly, highly recommend As Bright as Heaven. I received an advance review copy of this book from the Great Thought’s Ninja Review Team. All opinions are my own.