Wiseman also wrote "What She Left Behind," a piece of literature that haunts me still (in only the best way possible). So seeing this book up on BookishFirst was exciting.
As soon as you open up the first look, you're greeted with propaganda images from the Spanish Influenza Epidemic of 1918. I couldn't decide, at first, if I could continue reading at this time because of the current pandemic our nation is facing. But, I had to at least give it a chance.
Right off the bat, we see how history unfortunately repeats itself. You see, people become complacent. We think we're invincible. We think, but that can't happen HERE. So just like in Philadelphia where young Pia lived during the start of the Spanish Flu outbreak, Americans didn't think they were in harm's way. But Pia felt a growing sense of unease. Her distress was partly because as a German immigrant during this time, Pia was already feeling the strain and effects of prejudice, hate, and bullying. But more than that, Pia was acutely aware of the posters about stopping the spread of the flu and the rumors that hospitals were filling up in Boston and New York City. And yet here they were, packed like sardines at a parade in an effort to prove their patriotism.
Days after the parade and the illness had infected over 600 citizens.
Oddly, I'm even caught up in this story amidst my own anxiety over our current pandemic. I appreciate Wiseman's writing style and her ability to draw her audience in so well. I know she'll have researched thoroughly for this novel and I'm eager to see what we may be able to learn from even this piece of historical fiction! I will absolutely be reading the remainder of this book when it debuts!
As soon as you open up the first look, you're greeted with propaganda images from the Spanish Influenza Epidemic of 1918. I couldn't decide, at first, if I could continue reading at this time because of the current pandemic our nation is facing. But, I had to at least give it a chance.
Right off the bat, we see how history unfortunately repeats itself. You see, people become complacent. We think we're invincible. We think, but that can't happen HERE. So just like in Philadelphia where young Pia lived during the start of the Spanish Flu outbreak, Americans didn't think they were in harm's way. But Pia felt a growing sense of unease. Her distress was partly because as a German immigrant during this time, Pia was already feeling the strain and effects of prejudice, hate, and bullying. But more than that, Pia was acutely aware of the posters about stopping the spread of the flu and the rumors that hospitals were filling up in Boston and New York City. And yet here they were, packed like sardines at a parade in an effort to prove their patriotism.
Days after the parade and the illness had infected over 600 citizens.
Oddly, I'm even caught up in this story amidst my own anxiety over our current pandemic. I appreciate Wiseman's writing style and her ability to draw her audience in so well. I know she'll have researched thoroughly for this novel and I'm eager to see what we may be able to learn from even this piece of historical fiction! I will absolutely be reading the remainder of this book when it debuts!