Will I love As Bright as Heaven?

More than 12,000 Philadelphia residents died when the Spanish Flu began global deaths in 1918. Although the virus had already wreaked havoc in New England, Philadelphia officials went ahead with plans for a scheduled parade designed to raise public funding for the Great War across the ocean. An estimated 200,000 people watched and cheered as soldiers, veterans, and workers involved in the war effort marched down Broad Street on Sept. 28, 1918. An article about the spectacle published that afternoon in The Evening Bulletin, began “This is a great day in Philadelphia.” 

But another article in the same edition… show more.

Alright, alright, alright, I get it: no one wants to read a pandemic book. Not here, not now. But Meissner’s novel, set in Philadelphia during the 1918 Spanish Flu, is a surprisingly uplifting tale. In addition to sisters, we also get to experience the time from the viewpoint of the girls’ mother. It’s a beautiful, resonating story that reminded me of the tricky balance that always exists—pandemic or no—between mitigating risk and living life to its fullest.