As Bright As Heaven

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.

The embalming room offers a setting for and becomes a symbol of the novel’s themes about the importance of care as well as the nature and function of death. First established as a mystery—a place in their new home where they are forbidden to go—several of the characters in some way find a way into the room. The mysterious nature of the embalming room is hinted at in Willa’s childish name for it, the “Elm Bonning Room,” indicating that she doesn’t know what embalming is. Acquaintance with the embalming room becomes a rite of initiation of sorts for the Bright family. At first, in Maggie’s point of view, it is simply a mysterious stage for potentially dangerous processes. Once Pauline grows comfortable with her work there, it becomes a place of connection.

The embalming room, a bridge between the realms of life and death, is the site of the last ritual of care that humans can show for their loved ones, which is preparation for the afterlife, whatever it is imagined to be. When Alex is young, Maggie keeps him out of the room, just as Fred wanted to keep the girls out, because of the instruments and chemicals that are stored there.