As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner

As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Overall I enjoyed this book. If I were rating the first two-thirds of the book I would have given 5 stars easily, but the last third of the book dragged on and felt too contrived. As Bright as Heaven was the very personal story of one family during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918. The Bright family had a unique relationship with death. After their new born son dies, they move from the country into Philadelphia to live with their uncle who owns a funeral parlor. They are literally surrounded by death, so when people around them begin to die from the Spanish flu they have a unique perspective on the epidemic. When the flu strikes in their own family it consequences are severe, but a chance encounter leads them to find a small infant who needs their help. This child helps them deal with the death that surrounds them. The story is told through multiple perspectives, and the grief and loss of this family felt raw and real. The epidemic left almost no one untouched and this story did a fantastic job of showcasing the enormity of the epidemic. The characters were beautifully developed, and the details of the flu and the war added depth to the story, but it felt like the part of the story that came after the flu epidemic was forced. While the author did try to address some of the loose ends, she chose to over simplify a case of PTSD for the sake of a 'happy ending' and introduced extremely unrealistic elements like a child working in a speakeasy, and a female psychiatrist that falls in love with a patient's husband, which all felt artificial and took away from the genuine quality of the earlier chapters. Overall I did enjoy this book and I would recommend it, despite my opinion of the ending.

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