A Sound Among the Trees: a story of one house and the three women tied to it's history

A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner is the story of one house lost in time and the line of women who share in its heritage of loss. Susannah Page came to Holly Oak as a young bride. Rumored to be a Union spy during the Civil War and viewed as a traitor to her Virginian roots. Her great-granddaughter, Adelaide, is the current matriarch of Holly Oak, doesn’t believe that the ghost of Susannah haunts the halls of the mansion. When Marielle Bishop marries into the family, it doesn’t take her long to firmly believe that the house brings misfortune to the women who live there. Marielle now must shift through the rumors and superstitions to discover the truth and make peace with her own sacrifices she made for love. 

I love Susan Meissner’s books. She has introduced me to the dual timeline historical novels where someone in the present finds a way to make peace with their past by learning about another event of the past. This is what I expected A Sound Among the Trees to be. I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters especially Adelaide who seemed bitter. It was slow getting to the part of Susannah’s story that it was a let down. I would have liked to see more of Susannah’s point of view and not just letters from the area. This is the first time I have read a Susan Meissner novel and felt disappointed. She is still one of my go-to authors, unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. 

A Sound Among the Trees is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook

As Bright As Heaven: one's family struggles through a pandemic on the homefront

As Bright as Heaven is the next novel by, one of my favorite authors, Susan Meissner. The story opens in January 1918 as Pauline Bright visits the grave of her infant son and contemplates a move which will uproot her family and into an unknown future. Her husband, Thomas, has been offered an inheritance in Philadelphia. His uncle, Fred, runs a mortuary in the city and asks Thomas to be his heir and take over the business. It’s an opportunity that seems hard to turn down. Pauline and Thomas along with their three daughters, Evelyn, 15, Maggie, 12 and Willa, 6, leave the only life they’ve known and move to Philadelphia. As they settle into their new home and new city, the Great War rages in Europe and many American men are preparing to join the fight. And soon rumors of an illness spreading across Europe reaches the shores of America. Soon the city and the Bright family are faced with the growing pandemic of the Spanish flu. Will the family be touched by this horrible illness? How will they endure the challenges they face?

I was very eager for this new book. I’ve been a fan of Susan Meissner since I read A Fall of Marigolds a couple of years ago. So when I won an advanced copy from Bookish First, I was on pins and needles as I waited for it to arrive. Told from the perspectives of Pauline, Evelyn, Maggie and Willa, the story unfolds in a very dramatic roller coaster of tragedy and heartache. I’ve heard of the Spanish flu pandemic before and read about it in other novels; however, I have never read a story quite like this one. Ms. Meissner has a gift to give her characters such a voice that their words stay with you. So different from her recent novels where the present is connected with events of the past; however, the story is still an emotional ride with the Great War and the pandemic as the catalyst to the events the Bright family must face and endure. I highly recommend As Bright as Heaven.

As Bright as Heaven

will be available in hardcover and eBook

on February 6, 2018

Stars over Sunset Boulevard: a friendship forged during an iconic movie

Stars over Sunset Boulevard by Susan Meissner is the story of two women who become roommates and friends, each with their own reasons for coming to Hollywood. Violet Mayfield is 22 years old from Alabama. She has come to work in the secretarial pool at the Selznick International Studios. She meets Audrey Duvall, 30 years old another secretary, who dreams of bright lights and her name on the marquee. They are working for the studio during the filming of one of the greatest films of our time, Gone With the Wind. Although at the time, the film is doomed to be a failure, Violet is recruited to be an assistant on the set as Audrey chases her dream of becoming an actress. Enter Bert Redmond, a costume assistant on the film and not so secretly in love with Audrey. Their friendships will stand a test when Violet and Bert fall in love. One night, after a night of heavy drinking, one of the green carpet hat that Scarlett wears in the film goes missing. How are the women and their friendship tied to the hat? Will their friendship stand the test of time? Will the hat be discovered?

Stars over Sunset Boulevard is a great story with one of my favorite films as its backdrop. I loved the friendship between Audrey and Violet who at different times emulated the friendship of Scarlett and Melanie from the film. It is a friendship that things were done and said due to fear, love and uncertainty. I also enjoyed how Ms. Meissner weaves the past and the present as the mystery of the green carpet hat is revealed. I highly recommend Stars over Sunset Boulevard!

Sunset over Sunset Boulevard

is available at all major booksellers

A Bridge Across the Ocean: a mystery surrounding an iconic piece of history

A Bridge Across the Ocean by Susan Meissner is the story of the World War II brides who came over on the RMS Queen Mary. The story opens with a presence watching as the passengers come aboard the beautiful ship and one passenger sees this presence. Fast forward to present day San Diego where Brette Caslake is at a baby shower and encounters a ghost. Brette has the Sight, a gift which is passed on to the daughters on her mother’s side. The gift seems to skip generations and appear out of nowhere. Brette has grown up trying to keep the ghosts at bay and not let on about what she sees. She learned that lesson the hard way. Until one day when an old high school classmate looks her up and desperately asked for her help. His daughter swears she saw her late mother during a tour of the Queen Mary. Soon Brette is brought into a mystery aboard the ship as a ghost leads her to a name, Annaliese Kurtz. The story moves back and forth in time as the mystery is revealed about what happened to Anneliese. Brette is determined to help a young girl grieving her mother as well as set the record straight about Annaliese Kurtz. Will she be able to find out the truth?

A Bridge Across the Ocean is a beautiful story about a piece of history that many do not know. The RMS Queen Mary has been docked in the Long Beach since her retirement in 1967 and now serves as a tourist attraction, hotel, museum and event facility. I’ve lived within driving distance of the Queen Mary all my life and have yet to visit her. After reading this book, I will definitely visit her now. A Bridge Across the Ocean intertwines the present and past with a beautiful story and an interesting premise. The Queen Mary has been rumored to be haunted since her docking in Long Beach. Whether or not you believe in ghosts or hauntings, you will love this story of women trying to escape the horrors of the life they left behind and rebuild in America. I highly recommend A Bridge Across the Ocean.

A Bridge Across the Ocean

is available at all major booksellers

Why the sky is blue: a story of faith, trust and love

Why the sky is blue By Susan Meissner is a story about trust in God after a violent attack which leaves a woman pregnant and unsure what to do next. It is a story about faith, trust and trying to find meaning in life after horrible violence. Most importantly, it’s about a person’s ability to love.

Claire Holland only heard God speak to her once, when she was 4 years old. It was the morning her family learns that her father died in Korea. He whispered, “Do not be afraid.” 33 years later she hears that voice again telling her to not be afraid. She awakes in the hospital after being viciously attacked and left for dead. Miraculously she survived only to discover that she is pregnant and the only possibility is that the father is her attacker. Together with her husband, Dan, and her two children, 11-year old Katie and 6 year old, Spencer, she must face a choice. Claire always had difficulty carrying to term and she believes that she will lose the child like the others. But when the child continues to survives, Claire and Dan decide to give the baby up for adoption and try to move on with their lives. What happens when that baby grows up and enters their lives once again? Will the family be able to accept this person into their lives? Or will the family come crashing down?

I loved this book. It had me captivated from beginning to end. It is a great story about how God can use a bad event into a wonderful gift to the world. There were many great examples of this. Claire’s mother tries to example why God allows bad events to happen, she says “Sometimes asking God for a reason for something is like asking Him why the sky is blue. There is a complex, scientific reason for it.” That’s the theme of this story, that when the question is complex, the answer is too. There is a quote which resonated with me, “God’s reason for allowing certain things to happen are too complex for us to fully appreciate.” It is true that God’s reasons and thoughts are beyond our ability to reason and think that we couldn’t begin to understand. One day, I think He will reveal all to us. I highly recommend Why the sky is blue By Susan Meissner.

“Love is not blind- it sees more not less.

But because it sees more, it is willing to see less.”

Secrets of a Charmed Life: a story of choices and survival

Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner is the story of one woman’s journey through WWII in England as her life is torn apart by the London Blitz. The description on the back of the book says it all: “She stood at a crossroads, half-aware that her choice would find her down a path from which there could be no turning back. But instead of two choices, she only saw one- because it was all she really wanted to see…”

The story opens with Kendra Van Zant, an American college student studying abroad at Oxford, is on her way to interview Isabel MacFarland, a survivor of the London Blitz and who has refused interviews until now. Kendra arrives on the day of Mrs. MacFarland’s 93rd birthday party. As they settle down for the interview, Mrs. MacFarland opens her story with she is not Isabel and she’s not 93. The story then turns to London in 1941, as Emmy Downtree, 15 years old and her seven year old sister, Julia, are admiring dresses in the window of a bridal shop. Soon, Emmy and her sister are sent to the country as the children are evacuated from London. Even though Emmy enjoys her stay in the country with her foster family, she foolishly heads back to London. Her world would be torn apart on September 7, 1940 as the London Blitz begins. Emmy is separated from her mom and sister. We know that she survives the Blitz but will she find her sister and how does she change her name is Isabel?

I received a copy of this book through Goodreads as a part of their book giveaway. Since I have read a couple of books by Ms. Meissner before, I was anxious to read this one. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I loved the detailed about wartime England, the descriptions of the London Blitz were terrifying and the reader will get a sense of what it was like to be in London at the time. I loved reading how Emmy becomes Isabel and how she rebuilds her life after the war. I highly recommend this book.

Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner

Will be available February 3, 2015

On Amazon for the Kindle $7.99 and paperback for $15

As well as other booksellers

"A Fall of Marigolds" by Susan Meissner, a story of recovery

A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner caught my eye in Barnes and Noble a few weeks ago and I immediately put in on my list. It caught my attention for two reasons. One, marigolds are October’s birth flower and therefore when I see or hear about them I think of Ziva. Second, the story. It’s about two women separated by time who both suffer through a great loss and their survival is linked to one scarf blooming with marigolds.

The story opens with Taryn who works at a quilting shop in Manhattan in September 2011. The 10 year anniversary of 9/11 is fast approaching and she lost her husband on that tragic day and is fighting the urge to hide until the anniversary memorials are over. She has been searching for a client, material that will match this marigold scarf, the scarf that saved her life. She is struggling to find a way to move on without leaving her husband behind.

The majority of the story is about Clara, a nurse on Ellis Island in 1911. She suffered a loss when the building she worked in burned. On March 25, 1991, the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire was one of the deadliest industrial disasters in the history of New York City and one of the deadliest disasters until 9/11. It caused the deaths of 146 garment workers (123 women and 23 men) when the owners had locked the doors to the stairwells and the exits which was a common practice at the time to prevent theft and unauthorized breaks. Many of the workers could not escape. The victims either died from the fire, smoke inhalation or falling and/or jumping to their deaths from the 8^th, 9^th and 10^th floors of the Asch Building. Clara retreats to the Ellis Island hospital where incoming immigrants are checked for diseases and treated before sending them on to New York City.

I enjoyed this story very much. I enjoyed going on Clara’s and Taryn’s journey of recovery with the backdrop of two deadliest disasters in New York City history. I liked how the author described Ellis Island as the in-between place. It was between the old world and America. For Clara, it was in-between the past and her future. The main theme of this story is grief recovery and letting go of what might have been. There is a lot of history and detail about Ellis Island that I was not aware of. I would like to continue to learn more about Ellis Island and its history place in our nation’s history.

“Love is the only constant in a fragile world” -Clara