About the Book

Book: What I Promise You

Author: Liz Tolsma

Genre: Christian Fiction / Romance / Historical Fiction

Release Date: February 1, 2024

A Family’s History Is Lost to the Ravages of WWII in Southwest France

1942

Noémie Treves, a young, pregnant Jewish woman, had her entire world shattered when she is arrested and taken to the Camp de Rivesaltes transit camp in Southwest France. No sooner does she arrive, though, than she assists in helping two young girls scheduled for transport escape to a nearby maternity hospital. The matron there befriends her and changes her name to help hide her. But nothing goes according to plan, and Hannah finds herself doing the unimaginable to save one precious life.

2022

Caitlyn Laurant is haunted by recent events in her life and hopes becoming a nurse on the mission field will help her forget. While in training, she and her friends travel to France where her grandfather was born. What should have been an easy search for his birthplace turns into anything but and reveals secrets that no one alive has ever heard.

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My Thoughts:

This is a story that is both heartbreaking and hopeful. It is a story that has three timelines that we are tracking. One taking place in a period of time in France during 1942, the 2022 timeline, and a timeline that takes place in one day during 1955. All are relevant and pieces to the puzzle of the story the author is telling.

What I Promise You is a WWII story that was unique in that it focused on expectant mothers and their children in an occupied France. I cannot even imagine the horrors and fears those women experienced living in a war zone without husbands or family. The author has some really great notes at the end of what was fiction and what was not.

Even though this has some very sad parts, and those were hard to read, this was a book I needed to finish. It was somewhat of a mystery too, as all the past parts and the characters fit together to make up the picture that those in 2022 are trying to uncover and upsets all they thought they knew. The narrator in the timeline of 1955 was a mystery person till the end reveal. Even though that timeline's chapters were brief, they were the chapters that seemed to propel the story forward. I really enjoyed how the author told this story and how it all fit together.

Again, this was a hard read in some parts, but overall, the story was rewarding as it showed that in the face of evil, good will make the necessary sacrifices.

I was provided a copy of this novel from the publisher. I was not required to post a positive review and all views and opinions are my own.

About the Author

Liz Tolsma is the author of several WWII novels, romantic suspense novels, prairie romance novellas, and an Amish romance. She is a popular speaker and an editor and resides next to a Wisconsin farm field with her husband and their youngest daughter. Her son is a US Marine, and her oldest daughter is a college student. Liz enjoys reading, walking, working in her large perennial garden, kayaking, and camping.

More from Liz

The Story behind the Cover of What I Promise You

In the late summer, I got the preliminary cover for What I Promise You. While Barbour Publishing always does a great job with their covers, and the one they sent was very nice, I wasn’t crazy about it because it didn’t tell the story at all. The mansion that plays such a big part in the novel was nowhere to be seen. Barbour is fantastic when it comes to working with me to get great covers, so I asked if we could include the real mansion that the story is based on. Turns out that they were having trouble getting copyright permission to use any image they could find of the maternity home.

That was disappointing. But I got brave and let them know that I took a picture of it when I was in France last year, and they could use it, but I’m not a very good photographer and I only used my iPhone. I attached the photo to the email and didn’t hear anything for a while.

Then in October, I wanted to include a preorder link to the book on social media or something and went to Amazon to grab it. And there was the cover. I went back and forth between the cover and my picture, and sure enough, it was the picture of the maternity home I had sent them! So I not only wrote What I Promise You, but some of my photography is on the front. I never thought that would happen. Am I in the wrong profession?? Just kidding!