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Only the Beautiful
Only the Beautiful | Susan Meissner
16 posts | 12 read | 11 to read
A heartrending story about a young mothers fight to keep her daughter, and the winds of fortune that tear them apart by the USA Today bestselling author of The Nature of Fragile Things and The Last Year of the War. California, 1938When she loses her parents in an accident, sixteen-year-old Rosanne is taken in by the owners of the vineyard where she has lived her whole life as the vinedressers daughter. She moves into Celine and Truman Calverts spacious house with a secret, howeverRosie sees colors when she hears sound. She promised her mother shed never reveal her little-understood ability to anyone, but the weight of her isolation and grief prove too much for her. Driven by her loneliness she not only breaks the vow to her mother, but in a desperate moment lets down her guard and ends up pregnant. Banished by the Calverts, Rosanne believes she is bound for a home for unwed mothers, and having lost her family she treasures her pregnancy as the chance for a future one. But she soon finds out she is not going to a home of any kind, but to a place far worse than anything she could have imagined. Austria, 1947After witnessing firsthand Adolf Hitlers brutal pursuit of hereditary purityespecially with regard to different childrenHelen Calvert, Truman's sister, is ready to return to America for good. But when she arrives at her brothers peaceful vineyard after decades working abroad, she is shocked to learn what really happened nine years earlier to the vinedressers daughter, a girl whom Helen had long ago befriended. In her determination to find Rosanne, Helen discovers that while the war had been won in Europe, there are still terrifying battles to be fought at home.
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TorieStorieS
Only the Beautiful | Susan Meissner
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Oh I really loved this emotional, heart-breaking audiobook. I couldn‘t stop listening to it! With two narrators sections dealing with past & present, the book opens with Rosie, 17, orphaned & pregnant, on her way to what she thought was a home for mothers but is instead a hospital with a much darker mission. Helen, a nanny in Austria for a family with a disabled child is among the first to see the truth of the Nazi regime. Keep the tissues handy!

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SilversReviews
Only the Beautiful | Susan Meissner
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If you haven‘t read this book yet, you MUST get it in paperback.

FULL CELEBRATION AND REVIEW HERE: https://tinyurl.com/3arhnpsm

@susanmeissnerauthor
@penguinrandomhouse

30 likes1 stack add
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SilversReviews
Only the Beautiful | Susan Meissner
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Thank you @bookbrowse for the book discussion win!!

@berkleypub
@susanmeissnerauthor

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candc320
Only the Beautiful | Susan Meissner
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God this story was heartbreaking and beautiful!!! All of Susan Meissner‘s historical fiction novels are amazing and this is right up at the top. I won‘t give too much away, but I will say that it deals with eugenics around the time of WWII, including in America which I hadn‘t really read about before, as well as what makes a family. Just so much loss and hope and tenderness! Ahhh I loved it! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

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Kshakal
Only the Beautiful | Susan Meissner
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Meissner never disappoints and this might be my favorite of hers! So beautifully and hauntingly told… this is a book that will stay with me for some time to come!

Crazeedi I've enjoyed her writing, adding!! 3mo
33 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Margot0817
Only the Beautiful | Susan Meissner
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First book of 2024! This book took me a few weeks to read but only because I am, unfortunately, easily distracted. However, I finished the whole second half of this book in the last 24 hours. At first I was going to give it 4.5 stars but by the ending I'm giving it 5. Susan Meissner never disappoints!
Topics in this book:
-Synthesia
-Eugenics
-Adoption
-WW2

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GinaKButler
Only the Beautiful | Susan Meissner
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Up next on audio! 🎧
Our January book club pick…we meet early this month, so I needed to get a jump on it!

#bookspinbingo

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Cathyloves2read
Only the Beautiful | Susan Meissner
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I read this book as part of a bookclub I belong to. I feel it was a perfect pick for our club. The story touched on so many different topics, some I knew little about. One is these topics is eugenics. Another is synesthesia. I liked the main characters, Rosie and Helen. This isn‘t the first book I‘ve read by this author, and it won‘t be the last. I recommend this book, especially to those who love historical fiction, like me!

SilversReviews LOVED this book!! 7mo
10 likes1 comment
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Cathyloves2read
Only the Beautiful | Susan Meissner

“A book is always in many places at once. That is its singular wonder. A book takes one voice speaking and makes it many. A book can shine far brighter and longer than I ever could on my own.”

— Only the Beautiful by Susan Meissner
https://a.co/2iBLbh1

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kspenmoll
Only the Beautiful | Susan Meissner
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#bookmail #bookmailisthebestmail #justtherightbook#rjjuliabooksellers #coverlove

Yay! This gorgeous book arrived today in the mail from RJ Julia Booksellers in Madison, CT. After filling out an online form that assesses your taste in books, you are matched with a book. Through this program I receive a book 6x a year.

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I need to check this out! (edited) 10mo
Amiable I‘ve thought about doing Just the Right Book —although I love just going to RJ Julia‘s and picking them out myself! 😀 Curious to hear how well they match for you? 10mo
Suet624 And do they tend to be just the right book? 10mo
See All 7 Comments
kspenmoll @Amiable They have done a really good job matching me with books. One time I got a book I already read & they sent me something else & told me to give the book away. I can see why though if you live close by you might question it! 10mo
kspenmoll @Suet624 🤣🤣 Actually, yes!!! 10mo
Amiable @kspenmoll Good to know! Keeping this in mind for a birthday gift for a friend as well. (edited) 10mo
Amiable And yes —I actually drive right past Madison on my way to/from work, so it‘s easy to stop in periodically on my way home! 10mo
55 likes1 stack add7 comments
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Reecaspieces
Only the Beautiful | Susan Meissner
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JHSiess
Only the Beautiful | Susan Meissner
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𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀

𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 by 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐞𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐫 is impeccably researched, wrenching, but hopeful. Meissner illustrates the parallels between the US eugenics movement & Hitler's early quest to create a “master race“ by exterminating persons with disabilities. With reproductive rights at the center of debate, the story is timely. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸: https://tinyurl.com/2fwxx8c4

36 likes1 stack add
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Lsmoore43
Only the Beautiful | Susan Meissner
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I read my first Susan Meissner book several years ago and was hooked. I'll read any that she writes now and have a few to get too. I do so look forward to each one. My journey started with A FALL OF MARIGOLDS. It was the best book I read that year. I also read THE LAST YEAR OF THE WAR and THE NATURE OF FRAGILE THINGS. Each of these books were excellent.
I highly recommend this book. It's that good.

Full review: tinyurl.com/4rrjfypd

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SilversReviews
Only the Beautiful | Susan Meissner
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HISTORICAL FICTION - WWII

WOW - another beautiful read by Susan Meissner!!

ONLY THE BEAUTIFUL is another marvelous, marvelous read that fans will not want to miss and one I didn‘t want to put down.

Enjoy, and have some tissues ready!!

Have you read books by this author?

Her books are always amazing!!

FULL REVIEW: https://tinyurl.com/mryd57jt

@susanmeissnerauthor
@berkleypub

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theokiereader
Only the Beautiful | Susan Meissner
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Full review and a recipe that matches the book: https://bakingthroughbookclub.com/2023/04/17/unwavering-devotion-in-unyielding-t...

Set around the time of World War II, Only the Beautiful addresses the horrors of the eugenics movement. Meissner draws an uncomfortable parallel between the United States' practice of sterilizing women who were deemed “dangerous” and what the Nazis were doing to disabled people.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

ashw21 Love Meisser! Can‘t wait to read this one 12mo
Monica5 I'm reading The Stable Boy of Auschwitz and learned that same fact. I had no idea about it. Love reading books that I learn stuff from. 12mo
theokiereader @ashw21 It was really good! I loved Bright as Heaven, so this was an automatic read for me! 12mo
theokiereader @Monica5 I work in special education, so this one hit hard. 12mo
12 likes1 stack add4 comments
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SilversReviews
Only the Beautiful | Susan Meissner
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DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK!!

FULL REVIEW WILL BE ON APRIL 19.

WOW!!

ONLY THE BEAUTIFUL is another marvelous, marvelous read by Susan Meissner that fans will not want to miss and one I didn‘t want to put down.

Enjoy, and have some tissues ready!! 5/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

@susanmeissnerauthor
@berkleypub

39 likes4 stack adds