As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner FIC Mei

 

If you like historical fiction I think you will enjoy this book.  A little more than a hundred years ago the United States entered WWI.  The young, eager boys went to Europe to fight the enemies.  It was easy to see those enemies.  But there was a sneakier enemy that was invisible.  It was called the Spanish Flu (even though it didn’t start there!) and it spread like fire through the troops.  And when troops returned to the U.S. it started ravishing the general population.  One of the cities that was particularly hard hit was Philadelphia which is the setting for this novel.

Thomas Bright and his wife Pauline have three daughters, Evelyn, Maggie and Willa.  They live in the small town where Pauline grew up.  They are all thrilled when Pauline gives birth to a son, Henry.   He is an easy baby - but that is because he is has a heart issue and only lives for six months.  This loss led Pauline to finally saying yes to her husband who wants to accept an offer to move to Philadelphia.  That is where Thomas' uncle Fred runs a very successful funeral home.  Fred has no other family and needs help to run the business.

The family moves into Fred's very large home/funeral home.  Things are going well until the flu arrives and Thomas is drafted.  This is the story of a mom and her daughters trying to survive in a world that seems to have gone out of control.

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