Book Review: As Bright As Heaven By Susan Meissner

AS BRIGHT AS HEAVEN

By: Susan Meissner

Published: February 6, 2018

Publisher: Berkley Books

Fiction/Historical Fiction




As a fan of Susan Meissner, I had no doubt that her tale of WWI and the crippling Spanish Flu would be a page-turning tale. I was not disappointed. Even though this tale of a family in Philadephia suffers greatly and tragic events fill the pages, I was still drawn to this story. Each chapter is told from a different character's perspective which gives the reader a broad view of how one small decision can change the trajectory of a family forever.

It's January 1918 and the Bright family has just buried their sweet infant, Henry, after an incurable heart condition. Pauline and her husband decide to join her husband's uncle in the funeral home business. This fairly new idea of funeral parlors and embalming is unheard of in their rural area, but Pauline is no longer afraid of death and has this desire to be closer to it. What she doesn't know is how surrounded by death she and her family will be.

Pauline and her three daughters tell their family's story. Evelyn, the bright teenager who is thrilled by the huge library in Philadephia. Maggie, the slightly younger caretaker of her siblings isn't afraid of what is behind the doors in the embalming room. Willa, the youngest, isn't happy with all the rules in this new house and doesn't understand why her family had to leave the countryside, her grandparents and live in a funeral home. As the family begins to adjust to living with Uncle Fred, to the dead bodies in the other side of the house, and the hustle and bustle of the city, their father decides to go help during the war efforts. Pauline is left behind to run the funeral home with Uncle Fred. There is word of a devastating flu moving swiftly through the city, but no one realizes the tragedies that lie ahead for them as bodies start to pile up outside their door.

You would think a story of war and a flu that took 12,000 lives in one city would be too full of sadness to read. Just when you think this family can't bear any more sadness, another layer is added, yet you keep reading because you have to believe there is hope for each of them. You have to believe that in the depths of a horrific disease, something will soon change. It does when Maggie finds a baby and saves him from certain death. This baby is the light in their dark tunnel. As Philadelphia emerges from disease, so too the Bright family must emerge from their own personal tragedies. Their story and resilience will amaze you and remind you that there can be happiness in even the worst of times.

Miessner expertly takes readers into the minds of her characters whether they are an eight-year-old girl full of fear and anger or a mother who can't shake the shadow of death following her every day since she buried her baby. The story moves swiftly because we are eager to hear the next character's voice. We wonder how Maggie is adjusting to her neighborhood crush leaving for the war or how Pauline is grappling with caring for her daughters and running an overflowing funeral home while trying to keep the disease away from her family.

I was fairly unaware of the devastation the Spanish Flu had in our country let alone the city of Philadephia. Meissner paints a vivid portrait of the awful events that took place and how it didn't discriminate...hitting the slums and the richest families equally. The fear seeps off the pages and the grief grabs you by the throat making it hard to believe any family could suffer this much. Fans of historical fiction and family stories will find Meissner's tale one they will want to talk about with others.

Favorite Quotes:

"You think you have a view of what's waiting for you just up the road, 

but then something happens,

 and you find out pretty quick you were looking at the wrong road."

"I think that grief is such a strange guest, 

making its home in a person 

like it's a new thing that no one has ever experienced before."

My review of A FALL OF MARIGOLDS by Susan Meissner
My review of A BRIDGE ACROSS THE OCEAN by Susan Meissner

Susan Meissner - source

Susan Meissner was born in San Diego, California, the second of three. She spent her childhood in just two houses. Her first writings are a laughable collection of oddly worded poems and predictable stories she wrote when she was eight.

She attended Point Loma College in San Diego and married her husband, Bob, who is now an associate pastor and a chaplain in the Air Force Reserves, in 1980. When she is not working on a new novel, she is directing the small group ministries at The Church at Rancho Bernardo. She also enjoys teaching workshops on writing and dream-following, spending time with my family, music, reading great books, and traveling. For more on Meissner, visit her website, HERE. 

To purchase a copy of AS BRIGHT AS HEAVEN, click the photo below:







Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to purchase this book through the above link, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase. 

Book Review: A Bridge Across the Ocean By Susan Meissner

A BRIDGE ACROSS THE OCEAN

By: Susan Meissner

Published: March 14, 2017

Publisher: Berkley Books

Fiction/Historical Fiction




Three women are aboard the Queen Mary, heading across the ocean to meet up with their American soldier husbands after WWII. They don't know each other or their stories but are roommates on the five-day voyage to America. As they introduce themselves we are taken back in time to their life before and during WWII in France, Belgium, and Germany. One of them has a secret and once it comes out, their three lives are changed forever.

Meissner is known for combining past stories with the present day in her novels and this one is no exception. Brette is a young, married professional who lives in Southern California.  She has always lived a very quiet life because once her high school friends found out she had "The Sight" she was ostracized by them and since then she has tried to keep her ability to see and communicate with ghosts, or drifters, as she calls them, to herself. Now her husband is ready to have children and she isn't sure that she is willing to pass on "The Sight" if they would have a daughter. After a visit onboard the Queen Mary, she is confronted by a drifter and feels the need to find answers for the drifter and maybe those answers will help decide her own future.

I wasn't expecting this book to be about ghosts and was admittedly quite unsure if I was going to like this book at all. But, one of Meissner's previous books, THE FALL OF MARIGOLDS, was a favorite of 2014 so I decided to keep going and I'm glad I did. My favorite parts of the book included the stories of these women during WWII and the extreme heartbreak and danger they went through. One of the women was part of the French Resistance. Another lived a horrific life married to a Nazi soldier. I am still in awe of the people who risked their lives to hide and help those who were traumatized by the Nazi officials. Their stories are inspiring and remind me of the goodness that abounded during WWII even though there was so much evil.

Meissner's novel is very character-driven and you become attached to the three women on the ship as well as Brette during the present day. Her struggle with "The Sight" is one I've never read about before and I have to assume the author met with someone who has that ability for her research. The drifter has her own story to tell and you may be surprised who she is revealed to be.

Fans of historical fiction or dual-time period stories will be swept away by this novel. I learned much about the Queen Mary and her many voyages including those that carried foreign brides across the ocean. It has definitely made me want to visit the Queen Mary myself. In fact, I just heard on the news that they are making Queen Mary Island into a large attraction and event center with shops, restaurants, and other activities.

I would have picked up this book for the cover alone. It is absolutely gorgeous, but the story is just as compelling. Meissner has blended historical fiction with a present-day ghost story and it works.

Favorite Quote:

"They are afraid of what they can't see, just like us. 

It's as if there's a bridge they need to cross. 

And it's like crossing over the ocean. 

They can't see the other side. 

So they are afraid to cross it."

Susan Meissner - source

Susan Meissner was born in San Diego, California, the second of three. She spent her childhood in just two houses. Her first writings are a laughable collection of oddly worded poems and predictable stories she wrote when she was eight.

She attended Point Loma College in San Diego and married her husband, Bob, who is now an associate pastor and a chaplain in the Air Force Reserves, in 1980. When she is not working on a new novel, she is directing the small group ministries at The Church at Rancho Bernardo. She also enjoys teaching workshops on writing and dream-following, spending time with my family, music, reading great books, and traveling. For more on Meissner, visit her website, HERE. 

To purchase a copy of  A BRIDGE ACROSS THE OCEAN, click the photo below:

Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to purchase this book throught the above link, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase. Thanks for supporting SincerelyStacie.com. 

Book Review: A Fall of Marigolds By Susan Meissner

A FALL OF MARIGOLDS

By: Susan Meissner

Published: February 4, 2014

Fiction





So many of the books I have read lately take a story from the past and merge it with the present.  I have loved how it was done in other novels like ORPHAN TRAIN, THE STORYTELLER, and CALLING ME HOME and this one didn't disappoint either. When merging stories from the past with the present, there has to be a believable and compelling connection.  In A FALL OF MARIGOLDS, that piece was a scartf as well as the feelings of love and loss .  We are first introduced to Taryn, a widow of 9/11 and now a single mother.  She has never been able to forgive herself for her husband's death in the North Tower.  She has tried to move on with her life by focusing on her job in a fabric store as well as raising her daughter, but ten years later a photo of her on the street on 9/11 resurfaces and forces her to relive everything all over again.

In 1911, there was a terrible fire in Manhattan called the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and Clara watched in horror as her friends perished or jumped to end their life.  Clara, after living only two weeks in Manhattan flees to Ellis Island to immerse herself in the hospitals there.  As a nurse, she is subjected to healing those who came to America in hope of a better life.  While caring for a patient, she is intrigued with his loss, so similar to hers and to his deceased wife's scarf.  The scarf will forever change her feelings about love, loss and taking risks.

Taryn and Clara's stories grabbed me at the very beginning and I had a difficult time putting this book down. I thought about them as I went about my day and they even crept into my dreams at night.  The writing was expertly done in a way to put you right into the setting whether it was the year 1911 or 2001. The emotions, the sites, and the people were all so descriptive that I was feeling their sadness, grief, and pain right along with them.  The most emotional part from me was Taryn's experience from 9/11.  I will never know the true horror that occurred that day, but I will never forget how I felt watching it.  Meissner's writing of Taryn finding out her husband wasn't going to make it and being near the towers as they collapsed will be part of my memory for a long time.

Both characters were suffering from extreme grief and at times the novel was burdened by the weight of sadness. These pieces were critical to the story and I can imagine could be difficult for some to read if they too have suffered from a loss.  This would be my only caution about the novel, otherwise, I highly recommend it.  The surprising connection these two women have, a hundred years apart, their grief and eventual recovery, and the hope of a brighter future will move you forward through the emotional pieces of this story. It is a story you won't soon forget.

This would make an excellent choice for book clubs.  There are discussion questions included in the book. Since the story includes a major ethical dilemma, I can see an intense discussion held on that topic alone. A novel that can put you in the story and make you question your own actions if you were in that situation makes the story even more real in your mind.  In both Taryn and Clara's lives there are a number of "What If" situations that the reader will certainly identify with as well.

Susan Meissner will be donating a portion of the proceeds from this book to the Save the Ellis Island Foundation for the restoration of the hospital buildings on Islands Two and Three.  You can learn more about this project at http://saveellisisland.org/.

Susan Meissner - source

Susan Meissner was born in San Diego, California, the second of three. She spent her childhood in just two houses. Her first writings are a laughable collection of oddly worded poems and predictable stories she wrote when she was eight.

She attended Point Loma College in San Diego, and married her husband, Bob, who is now an associate pastor and a chaplain in the Air Force Reserves, in 1980. When she is not working on a new novel, she is directing the small groups ministries at The Church at Rancho Bernardo. She also enjoy teaching workshops on writing and dream-following, spending time with my family, music, reading great books, and traveling.

Click the photo below to purchase your own copy of A FALL OF MARIGOLDS.

Thanks to Penguin Group for sending me a copy of this novel for the purpose of this review.  This review is my honest opinion. I was not compensated in any other way for this review.  If you choose to purchase this novel through the above link, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase. Thank for supporting SincerelyStacie.com reviews.