As Bright As Heaven - Book Review

The Bright family leaves Quakertown, Pennsylvania for Philadelphia in hopes of a better life for their family after a tragic loss. But the year is 1918, and there is no way the family (mother, father, three daughters) could know that in just a few short months, the Spanish flu would ravage the city and claim the lives of so many - including some of their own. And for those lives that it didn't take, it changed them forever.

Told through the eyes of the women in the Bright family - Pauline the mother, Evelyn the oldest daughter, Maggie the middle daughter, and Willa the youngest - As Bright As Heaven is a story of hope and heartbreak told over the course of several years.

This book was recommended to me as a good book club pick at BookExpo, and I took a copy of the book to read because I liked the idea that it was told through a female point of view, something that I think would appeal to many female book clubs. I also liked the historical aspect of the novel. It made me want to learn more about the Spanish influenza epidemic, which, according to the author, is a time period that isn't that well known by most Americans despite how many people died from the disease.

If you're looking for a book that might make you cry and offer up a good bit of discussion - there's definitely some potential "what would you do?" moments, then I would recommend this book.

As Bright As Heaven is published by Berkley and is on bookstore shelves now. I received a free copy at BookExpo.