Reviewed by Emma Crowley
England, 1942. On a dark night of the Blitz, Ruby returns to her beloved hometown with her heart shattered. Tears sting her eyes as she remembers the Nazis sinking their ship, and her little sister Eliza drifting away from her on the dark sea. It was their one chance of escape and it cost Ruby so much to leave behind her fiancé Antoine. She’s devastated that she couldn’t keep the promise she made to her dying mother – to keep her little sister safe.
When Ruby finds her family home destroyed, she falls to her knees in tears. The Germans have taken everything from her – first her family, and now her home. Among the ruins of her life, she wonders if she has the strength to carry on. But then, she finds a mysterious note.
Eliza is alive. I’ve seen her. You must find her…
A flicker of hope is ignited in her heart, and Ruby vows to never give up looking for Eliza. But her newfound courage is put to the test when a message from Antoine reveals something about Eliza’s fate that changes everything. She must find him again to learn the truth, but with England at war, will they find their way back to each other? And will she ever see her little sister again?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The Promise She Made to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The Promise She Made is the second book from Julie Hartley and once again it is a very impressive read. Initially it starts a bit slow but then builds and builds to an epic and deeply satisfying conclusion. The story is based on true events and the further I read the more I found myself being sucked into the story and for me it became a read that was increasingly difficult to put down. Split into five distinct parts we follow Ruby on an incredible life altering journey and in each part we see her face challenges and obstacles which she must try and overcome and in doing so she faces up to some home truths and must also deal with emotions that she has kept at bay for so long. Ruby was an impressive character and very well written with such carefully plotted and executed character development.
The prologue set in May 1933 introduces us to Ruby who lives on the Yorkshire moors in Yew Cottage with her baby sister Eliza and her parents. Ruby’s father is a country schoolmaster and the greatest words of advice that he imparts to her is that love is so important, and this must be her raison d’etre. Ruby vows that she will love and protect her sister no matter how challenging times may get. Fast forward to September 1940 and Ruby’s living situation has drastically changed. Herself and Eliza now reside with her Aunt Martha and Uncle Stanley, her parents having died in a car accident. Guilt eats away at Ruby that she was the cause of the accident and this emotion is something that becomes very familiar as it becomes a dominant theme throughout the book. Ruby time and time again is eaten up by guilt for various reasons. Some which I felt were justified and others I thought she was being way too harsh on herself.
By this stage Ruby is 18 and feels a deep responsibility for her sister always remembering her father’s words. Life is only ok at her Aunt’s house and now with the outbreak of war and the threat of invasion and bombs Ruby has made the decision to leave England and has been accepted by the Children’s Overseas Reception Board and will soon emigrate to Canada with Eliza. This news has shocked Aunt Martha and Ruby’s boyfriend Antoine who is the son of Ruby’s piano teacher. They feel let down by Ruby and that she is fleeing unnecessarily, and Martha even warns her that it is too dangerous to go that she doesn’t have a good feeling about things. Ruby firmly believes that she is doing the right thing by Eliza but it felt to me that she was acting on impulse rather than thinking things through.
Tragic events follow as the ship the sisters are on board is torpedoed by a German submarine as it crosses the Atlantic. These scenes were brilliant and so vividly described and packed full of emotion and have a significant impact on the remainder of the book. Tragically Eliza is lost at sea and Ruby is left injured but is rescued. Ruby despite being so young has been through awful situations in her life and now she is left alone. I felt desperately sorry for her as she has to live with the guilt and the consequences of her actions forever. People had told her not to leave England but she was of the belief that she was doing the right thing for herself and her sister. Now regret and grief shroud all her memories and she is at a crossroads as to what to do. It feels as if she is living in a world stripped of all those she so dearly loved and now she must suffer a punishment. But can she turn her suffering and anxiety into something good or in some small way seek revenge for the death of her sister? She has shut herself off from the world and her aunt and Antoine as she feels such remorse. She is desperately lonely and joins the ATS - Auxiliary Territorial Service - driving important army personnel around. Antoine has signed up for the war and is engaged in secret work and even if she wanted to see him she can’t. I felt she abandoned Antoine when he needed someone and in fact she was desperate for love, hope, affection and support but she had erected such solid barriers around herself that she couldn’t admit her failings and have someone come and nudge her back into life.
By the end of part two I felt Ruby has plunged to a very low point where she didn’t know what she wanted from life. She was grieving the loss of her sister but yet was haunted by nightmares that she was still alive. She no longer had Antoine and life in general just seemed pointless. Yes she was working but she was just going through the motions. Even music which once was as essential to her as breathing meant little or nothing anymore. She has little desire to connect with people or to feel and experience life. But I loved how Antoine never gave up on her that he kept trying to break through that shell of hers and soon a crack emerges, and she lets him in and they are married but soon separated again by the war.
The later half of the book containing parts three to five felt different in tone to the first and I was completely enthralled as Ruby takes on what is perhaps the greatest challenge of her life. She joins the S.O.E - Special Operations Executive - where she meets Yvette and a firm friendship is established as the pair embark upon training to be secret agents and wireless operators sent to France. I found all the details regarding their training fantastic without being bogged down in too much detail. The pace of the story really picked up and there was an issue that emerged with regard to Ruby’s personal situation which added an extra dimension and challenge to her character. Ruby really came into her own at this stage and I felt she become so driven and focused and less maudlin and guilt stricken. She didn’t completely forget about Eliza. That strand of the story was always there in the background and I had an inkling as to how it would develop but I became completely focused on Ruby and how she was navigating the increasingly complex situation she found herself in. Fate has a lot in store for her and it felt like things took on a rollercoaster of a ride with so many twists and turns and unexpected events with each turn of the page.
I would highly recommended The Promise She Made. It’s an emotional and impactful read and I loved reading the end notes to discover which bits were based on true events or people. It all added to my enjoyment of the story. Ruby faced many struggles and peaks and troughs in her life and she was stubborn and the fact she wanted to be so independence were part of her initial downfall but to see her rise from the bottom back to the top was a thoroughly enjoying reading experience. I’ve now loved both books by Julie Hartley and am very much looking forward to what she may write in the future.
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