A beautiful story about loss and family that takes place in the early 20th century. A family of five moves from rural Pennsylvania to Philadelphia so that the patriarch can work in his bachelor uncle's undertaken business. A series of tragedies pushes them apart and pulls them together. The story is told by various members of the family, not all of which seemed believable to me, and one particular storyline was based on so many coincidences as to not be credible. Nevertheless, the characters were mostly well formed and the story was interesting. ( )

Interesting book about the 1918 flu pandemic written before Covid. The flu went on much longer than what was written in the book. Interesting family. Imagine what it was like for undertakers etc. Psychiatry was misrepresented ( )

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I like that it was presented from several different viewpoints and that it covered a period in history that I have not read much about. The author has a wonderful lyrical writing style that really draws you in. This is the first book I've read by this author, but it definitely will not be the last. ( )

A few weeks ago, I happened to be at my public library when they made the announcement that they were closing in a few hours, indefinitely, due to COVID-19. I was in the process of filling my bag with all kinds of apocalyptic and plague-heavy reading. I thought it would be fun and novel to read about crazy world happenings when we were seeing one on the horizon. Like I said, that was weeks ago and no one could predict---no one can predict now---the ramifications of this virus on our community, country, and world. To say the least---reading this book was not a fun and novel experience. It was extremely depressing. Since it's the first fiction book I've read in a good 10 years set during a plague of this kind, I'm not sure how much our current world situation contributed to that sense of dull sadness.

I don't normally like stories told from multiple perspectives. This one has four narrators---a mother and her four daughters. While I was getting to know the characters, it was easy for me to remember who was who, age wise, because their names are in alphabetical order from oldest to youngest. The story tellers switch from present to past tense often...not sure if that was intentional, but it was irritating. Because we are dealing with multiple perspectives, some events just happen without any lead up. The Spanish flu just appeared abruptly and unintroduced in the story, without any foreshadowing or hint that it was coming. I guess that's probably how it happened for the people who went through it in real life. I know the reality and the gravity of the Coronavirus just showed up here one day---we didn't think much of it until it affected us personally.

While the story was predictable, I still liked seeing how it played out. I thought the mortuary was an original background for the story, offering a perspective I'd never considered---that an undertaker would often be tending to a close friend or loved one. Very sad. I really admired the gentle way this family was with one another. They were very careful and compassionate of one another's feelings---even during times when it would have been acceptable to lash out.

I wouldn't say the book necessarily has a happy ending. The characters ended up changed and the reader leaves them seemingly contentedly adjusting to a new normal. Is that how it will be for us when COVID-19 has passed? Will life go on as usual or will we find ourselves adjusting to a new normal? ( )

3.5 Like the different viewpoints, though the father’s story would have been interesting. Willa seems to have suffered the most from lack of maternal guidance. ( )