A Heroic Novel of Survival During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic
May 15, 2020
A young woman endures incredible loss and tragedy, then fights to find her missing siblings and bring a criminal to justice against the backdrop of the Spanish flu epidemic. September 1918: The war is finally coming to an end. One day, crowds gather at a victory parade in Philadelphia, and soon after, people are dying by the hundreds from the Spanish flu. The danger is particularly high in the overcrowded slums where 13-year-old Pia Lange lives with her German mother and baby brothers as her father fights for the U.S. Army. When her mother dies, Pia must leave the apartment to find food, and she makes the difficult choice to hide her brothers away to keep them safe until her return. Foraging from apartment to apartment in the impoverished, immigrant-populated neighborhood, Pia faints from illness only to wake up several days later in a church hospital ward. Meanwhile, neighbor Bernice Groves finds Pia's brothers crying in their hiding place and chooses to take them with her. Bernice, driven to the brink of suicide by the recent death of her infant son, is distrustful and resentful of the immigrants who have moved into the neighborhood. At the same time, Pia is taken to an orphanage, at which point things become very Dickensian. Determined to escape and find her brothers if they are still alive, Pia fights to survive as Bernice embarks on a lucrative business of selling orphaned babies to families who have lost children. Wiseman's novel raises relevant issues about what it means to be an American and about the forms that anti-American sentiment can take in times of crisis; the setting during a pandemic, however, one can assume was less intentional. Reading the novel in the time of COVID-19 adds an even greater resonance, and horror, to the description of the fatal spread of that 1918 flu. The pathos inspired by the sheer scale and indiscriminate nature of pandemic death is almost overwhelming, especially given current events. A coming-of-age story that hits a bit closer to home than Wiseman may have intended.
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May 25, 2020
Wiseman (What She Left Behind) chronicles the devastation the 1918 flu pandemic wrought on a German immigrant family in Philadelphia. Pia Lange, 13, lives in a sparse Philadelphia apartment with her mother and infant twin brothers, Ollie and Max, while her father, a soldier who enlisted during WWI to prove his loyalty to the U.S., is fighting in Europe. When the flu hits the city in September, killing Pia’s mother, Pia cares for her brothers in their apartment until they run out of food. She then ventures out for sustenance, and doesn’t return until eight days later after falling ill with the flu. Upon her return, Pia finds her brothers missing and another family living in their home. Pia is taken to an orphanage against her will, and resolves to find out what happened to her brothers, holding out hope they are still alive. Wiseman’s depiction of the horrifying spread of the Spanish flu is eerily reminiscent of the present day and resonates with realistic depictions of suffering, particularly among the poorer immigrant population. Historical fiction fans will appreciate Pia and her pluck and determination to survive. Agent: Michael Carr, Veritas Literary Agency.
July 1, 2020
Thousands crowd the streets for Philadelphia's Liberty Loan parade in the fall of 1918. Thirteen-year-old Pia Lange is there reluctantly because her mother, conscious of the anti-German sentiments of their neighbors, insists that Pia and her brothers attend. Never a fan of crowds, Pia is even more nervous because of the deadly flu epidemic that is sweeping the nation. When the disease hits Philadelphia, thousands die. Bernice Groves, who lives across the way from the Langes, blames immigrants like Pia for the epidemic. Because of her losses?she has just lost her infant son to the flu and her husband in the war?and her bigotry, Bernice makes a choice that has devastating consequences for Pia. Wiseman (The Life She Was Given, 2017) weaves their two paths in and around each other, showing the catastrophic impact of the flu. Readers will not be able to help making comparisons to the COVID-19 pandemic, and how little has changed since 1918. Wiseman has written a touching tale of loss, survival, and perseverance with some light fantastical elements. Highly recommended for all collections.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)