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Feb 06, 2018darladoodles rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Since I am a big fan of Susan Meissner's historical fiction, it was a treat to acquire an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley. Unlike some of Meissner's other novels, this one does not have a present and past storyline. It focuses solely on Philadelphia beginning in 1918. The Bright family moves from the country to the city so Thomas, the father, can take over Uncle Fred's funeral home. We view the story through the eyes of Pauline (mother) and her three daughters: Evie, Maggie and Willa. Their age range allows us to see very different aspects of the flu epidemic, men going off to war and the aftermath. Meissner's prose draws you in and be sure to have a tissue box handy. There are many heartrending scenes that we feel along with the characters. I also love the many chapters that end with concise yet profound pronouncements like: "She was ready." An author quote from the Acknowledgements sums it up nicely: "Death comes for us all in one way or another. It is a certainty. Our lives will one day end, and most of us never know when. Interestingly enough, it is our mortality that gives our existence its value and beauty. If our days were not numbered, we probably wouldn't care how we spent them. How does knowledge that we are mortal affect our choices? The risks we take? The risks we don't? These were the questions I wanted to explore as I wrote this book and that I wanted you to ponder as you read it. We are, all of us, living out stories of our lives. Each of our stories will end, in time, but meanwhile, we fill the pages of our existence with all the love we can, for as long as we can. The is how we make a life."