As Bright As Heaven, set in Philadelphia during the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918, is a dramatic example of the resilience of the human spirit. Heartening and dramatic, the book releases February 2018 from Berkley Penguin Random House.
As Bright As Heaven opens with a flash forward scene set in 1918. Pauline Bright stands over the grave where a child has been laid to rest. She falls into reverie about the child’s birth. With that, the story of how she and her husband Thomas came to relocate from a poor tobacco farm to Philadelphia quietly and powerfully reveals itself. The shroud of the Spanish flu epidemic is about to cover the city and the Bright family will be fiercely tested and impacted. Clouds of love and compassion enfold the gravitas of their circumstances.
Meissner excels at her craft. Her writing astounds in prose and plot. The tenacity of the human spirit is a signature of her novels. Written with exquisite prose and articulate historical detail, her prose wafts over the reader, pages clipping by like lightening.
As Bright As Heaven brims with unforeseen awakenings in the midst of loss. Narrated by various family members, the tension mounts as each reveal their experiences during the plague and experience emotional epiphanies. Characters are fully realized with distinctive personalities. We become completely absorbed into the lives, losses, and triumphs of the Bright family.
Meissner includes detail on embalming a dead body, an absorbing side trip. See if you can figure out the surprise ending before you read it. Complex in depth with a sweet aftertaste, As Bright As Heaven is highly recommended.
I thank Penguin Random House and Bookish First for the advance reader’s copy.
Reviewed on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_wr_but_btm?ie=UTF8&channel=glance-detail&asin=0399585966#
As Bright As Heaven opens with a flash forward scene set in 1918. Pauline Bright stands over the grave where a child has been laid to rest. She falls into reverie about the child’s birth. With that, the story of how she and her husband Thomas came to relocate from a poor tobacco farm to Philadelphia quietly and powerfully reveals itself. The shroud of the Spanish flu epidemic is about to cover the city and the Bright family will be fiercely tested and impacted. Clouds of love and compassion enfold the gravitas of their circumstances.
Meissner excels at her craft. Her writing astounds in prose and plot. The tenacity of the human spirit is a signature of her novels. Written with exquisite prose and articulate historical detail, her prose wafts over the reader, pages clipping by like lightening.
As Bright As Heaven brims with unforeseen awakenings in the midst of loss. Narrated by various family members, the tension mounts as each reveal their experiences during the plague and experience emotional epiphanies. Characters are fully realized with distinctive personalities. We become completely absorbed into the lives, losses, and triumphs of the Bright family.
Meissner includes detail on embalming a dead body, an absorbing side trip. See if you can figure out the surprise ending before you read it. Complex in depth with a sweet aftertaste, As Bright As Heaven is highly recommended.
I thank Penguin Random House and Bookish First for the advance reader’s copy.
Reviewed on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/review/create-review/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_wr_but_btm?ie=UTF8&channel=glance-detail&asin=0399585966#