As Bright As Heaven opens with a heartbreaking chapter. Pauline has suffered the loss of a child, but she's found the strength to go on for the sake of her other young children and is going to make a new life in a new city. The excerpt did a great job at setting the stage for the book in terms of who the character is, and where/when the book is set. Historical fiction can sometimes strike me as dry, but this excerpt made me expect a book that will be character focused and warm.