The Brights live in the sleepy farm town of Quakertown, Pennsylvania where they dry and roll tobacco to make cigars. They are barely making a living. Uncle Fred offers Tom a chance to become a partner in his funeral home in Philadelphia. The family is grieving the loss of an infant son, Henry. Pauline Bright decides the offer would bring the family a better life and encourages her husband to accept. The three daughters, Evelyn, 15, Maggie, 12, and Willa, 6, do not want to leave their school and friends, but the promise of a brighter tomorrow in a new bustling city soon have them packing. Philly, here we come!

In Philadelphia, the girls attend new schools and begin to make friends, even though it is common knowledge that the Brights live above a funeral parlor. Uncle Fred owns a lovely, impressive home. Funerals are arranged downstairs where he has his apartment. The upstairs is for the family and it is spacious and imposing. Business is thriving and Tom attends courses on embalming, which in 1918 is the new, upcoming method used to prepare the corpses for their final appearance. Pauline is talented with doing makeup and hair and arranging the flowers in the visitation room. Tom and Pauline work together as a dedicated team and business booms. The war is on and all around them men and boys are being drafted to join in the fight. Tom is called to serve in the Great War. Pauline and Uncle Fred continue to run the Bright Funeral Home. The girls are happy there.

While soldiers are fighting on the battlegrounds, at home people are fighting for their lives. The Spanish Flu, spread throughout Europe, now in the states and has hit Philly hard. It attacks the rich and poor, men, women, children, old and young, it knows no boundaries and it is the worse epidemic ever known. Pauline and Maggie volunteer to take food to the poor and sick on South Street. Maggie is told to wait outside while her mother brings food to one family, she hears a baby cry and goes to investigate. She finds the child in a cradle. His mother is dead in her bed from the flu. A young girl is on the couch unresponsive. Maggi wraps the small boy who reminds her of Henry and takes it to her mother. They take him home when Maggie lies about him being alone in the apartment. When she is questioned the next day, she repeats her lie and tells her mother and the authorities she does not remember where she found him. With so many orphans, it was easy for the Brights to legally adopt the child and they embraced him and named him Alexander. Alex becomes the healing balm for their broken hearts at the loss of Henry. He is a joy!

Susan Meissner is a favorite author of mine and writes historical fiction that tugs at you heart from the first to last page. AS BRIGHT AS HEAVEN tells a story of love, loss, family, and, finally, hope. The Spanish Flu killed 50 million people. 1918 was the time of prohibition, speakeasies, jazz, and changes. It is a tale of how people viewed life and loss and clung together looking for a brighter tomorrow. I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone who is unaware of the perils of the Spanish Flu. This book has it all: sadness, tears, death, and, in the end, new beginnings, love, and family together forever. You will love this book. Great job, Ms. Meissner. On my top shelf to re-read again. Thanks.

Book Summary

In 1918, Philadelphia was a city teeming with promise. Even as its young men went off to fight in the Great War, there were opportunities for a fresh start on its cobblestone streets. Into this bustling town, came Pauline Bright and her husband, filled with hope that they could now give their three daughters--Evelyn, Maggie, and Willa--a chance at a better life.

But just months after they arrive, the Spanish Flu reaches the shores of America. As the pandemic claims more than twelve thousand victims in their adopted city, they find their lives left with a world that looks nothing like the one they knew. But even as they lose loved ones, they take in a baby orphaned by the disease who becomes their single source of hope. Amidst the tragedy and challenges, they learn what they cannot live without--and what they are willing to do about it.

As Bright as Heaven is the compelling story of a mother and her daughters who find themselves in a harsh world not of their making, which will either crush their resolve to survive or purify it.