Susan Meissner is a former managing editor of a weekly newspaper and an award-winning columnist. She is the USA Today best sellingauthor of The Nature of Fragile Things, The Last Year of the War, As Bright As Heaven, A Bridge Across the Ocean, Secrets of a Charmed Life, A Fall of Marigolds, and Stars over Sunset Boulevard, among other novels.
Praise for Only the Beautiful “Only the Beautiful is an emotional journey of grief, hope, and second chances… Meissner pulls no punches in comparing America’s treatment of people with disabilities with the Nazis’ actions a few years later, leaving the reader with the emphatic message that everyone has a moral obligation to speak out against governments doing horrible things. This one resonates.” – Historical Novels Review “Susan Meissner is a master of the genre…[Only the Beautiful] is set in 1930s California and explores our country’s brief but troubling fascination with eugenics via the story of Helen.” – San Diego Union-Tribute ""Uncovers the horrors of eugenics movements through the stories of two women in 20th-century America.” - PopSugar “The lives of two women intersect in this powerful tale about the love between mothers and daughters.” – BookBub “Meissner delivers a nuanced and heartbreaking tale; expect to read through tear-filled eyes as the story concludes.” –Library Journal (starred review) “Meissner unfurls an emotionally rich narrative… Readers will be riveted.” –Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Richly drawn characters and heartbreaking, historically accurate situations combine to make a powerful reading experience.” –Booklist