Lessons of History: As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner

 As Bright as Heaven is a family history novel set in Philadelphia just before and during the Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918, and in the following decade. 

The Brights, a family of loving parents, Pauline and Thomas, and their three daughters, Evelyn, Maggie and Willa, move from Quakertown (a farming-focused community about 40 miles to the north) to the city where Thomas will join his bachelor uncle Fred's successful funeral home and mortuary business and the family will move into his large, comfortable house in a prosperous neighborhood. The Brights have recently lost their infant son and brother, Henry, to a heart ailment and this is a chance for them to have a fresh start as they deal with their towering grief.

The Brights gradually adjust to their new life, Thomas learning the scientific and business aspects of the trade, the girls going to their new schools, and Pauline running the home and then taking on a role in the business too, where she is artful in preparing the hair and make-up of the deceased for viewings and burial.

Their lives become intertwined with the Sutcliff family, who have a father and son accounting business that they run from their home across the street. Jamie, the elder son, joins the army and is sent to France to fight. Charlie, the younger son, has a learning disability, but is physically strong and able to work for the Brights doing some heavy work at the funeral home.

Then, the flu makes its entrance, moving through the city, but spreading widely at a parade for Liberty Bonds for the war effort, where 200,000 people gathered closely together in the streets. The result is catastrophic for the entire city, particularly the poor living in rundown areas, and ultimately for the Brights...

The effect of the 1918 pandemic on Philadelphia was widely known, but was more or less forgotten as other historical events took place in the intervening century. Since I was born and raised in Philadelphia, and know of loss in my own family, I have some awareness.

This book was published in 2018, before our current pandemic. The 1918 pandemic is said to have killed 200 million people around the world. A hundred-plus years later, we find ourselves in the same situation. In this country, we should have known better, or rather, our government, which did know what might come, should have done better. Our infected and our deaths are mounting.

The Brights made it through, with losses, but their experiences changed them and everyone in that time period forever. How that unspools makes for compelling, fast-paced reading. 

The author clearly did a great deal of research on the 1918 pandemic, World War I and on Philadelphia. With my personal knowledge of Philadelphia and the area, I noticed an anomaly or two that weren't acknowledged by the author, but that didn't stop me from enjoying the book. The characters were well-drawn and I liked the structure the author employed, moving from the points of view of Pauline, Evelyn, Maggie and Willa. The ends were nicely tied up, and the conclusion worked for me.