Back to Blog
As bright as heaven susan meissner5/26/2023 ![]() Soon, the disease lands on their literal doorstep, changing their respectable home and business into a processing site for the newly dead. In September, the Brights attend the Liberty Loan Parade, a massive public event that serves to spread influenza. Meissner shows the impact of larger events via more intimate moments. ![]() Kept away from the dangerous chemicals in the “Elm Bonning Room,” Willa makes friends at school, but peer pressure makes her avoid a German-American classmate without knowing exactly why. ![]() ![]() The chapters from six-year-old Willa are realistic in their innocence and brevity. Twelve-year-old Maggie, full of curiosity and youthful eagerness, has a huge crush on an older male neighbor who’s about to leave for war. Evie, fifteen, loves books and learning and develops a fond attachment to a fellow student. She and her three daughters narrate in turns, in styles fitting their ages and personalities. For Pauline, though, their big-city move and new profession are a natural progression for her ongoing grief. When her husband Thomas agrees to take over his elderly Uncle Fred’s mortuary business in Philadelphia, he sees it as an opportunity to improve their circumstances. Pauline Bright has finally made her peace with death after the passing of her infant son, Henry. Writing with tremendous empathy, Meissner shows how a family is transformed by tragedy and hope during the 1918 influenza pandemic. ![]()
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |