The Promise: A Novel

This novel was beautiful!! The perspective given from two different points of view was brilliant - you could see each woman's natural prejudice slowly unfold into a grudging understanding as they realize that growing up in completely different cultures impacts how you view the world. It is a heart-rending book but worth the heartache as you fall in love with all the characters (as different as they are) because the author does such a fantastic job of portraying each as a real, flesh and blood person with all the weaknesses and strengths each individual has who is lovable and struggling through life's complications and trials. I agree with many others that she writes with the expertise of a Willa Cather!Another aspect I deeply appreciate is the author's ability to portray the deep, passion of the characters (on a deep, physical level) without being graphic or tawdry. The passion that grows between Catherine and Oscar is palpable but so tastefully explored. To me it is a beautiful depciction of redemptive love - Oscar's simple ways yet his ability to respect the dignity of all others and to love on a deep, spiritual level - his acceptance of and love for Catherine and the way it transforms her is breathtaking!I now must read Weisgarber's first novel and hope that she continues to write more historical fiction where she paints her vivid landscapes of American life while creating lovable, multi-faceted, beautiful characters! Though this novel will rip your heart out, it is well worth the read! Well done, Ann Weisgarber!! Keep your novels coming!

A wonderful historical fiction novel that describes the 1900 hurricane of Galveston, TX in vivid detail. Catherine Wainswright lived in Ohio but stepped out on the wrong foot by getting involved with a married man, there was no hope of marriage. She seeks out an old school friend, Oscar who has a dairy farm in Galveston, TX. Oscar had recently lost his wife and is left with a small boy who needs a mother. Though numerous letters Catherine gladly accepts Oscar's request to marry him. She travels 1,000 miles my train from Ohio to Galveston, TX.Catherine tries hard to adjust to her new life and family, not knowing anything about the weather in Texas. She feels the weather is hot, sticky and unpleasant. As Catherine is getting to know her husband, son and her new home the winds start blowing hard off the Gulf of Mexico, she finds herself in the middle of the worst hurricane of the century.This story is awesome with the descriptions of early Galveston before, during and after the hurricane. The author did a wonderful job of making the plot flow altogether, describing each character in detail, making each one come to life and the description of the storm was so real. This was a wonderful book that I could not put down until the end. I live in Houston, TX and the author was right on point with the story of the hurricane. I have seen what Mother Nature can do. I would highly recommend this book to everyone. Thanks, Ann Weisgarber for a great book.

I didn't see the end of this story coming. Such sadness. Almost smacked a little of Gone With the Wind. I would love to have seen the storyline, the characters with an actual "tied up" ending. All considered it was a good story and well written.

THE promise is a book about redemption and lost, sorrow and joy. Set in 1900, the author uses the greatest natural disaster in U.S. history, the 1900 hurricane that hit Galveston, TX, as the backdrop for the tale she told.My disappointment with the book was the true lack of character depth of Catherine, a young woman caught up in an affair she willing fell into. Her refusal throughout the story, until near the end, to hold herself responsible for her own choices, wears on the reader.Oscar, a childhood friend, "rescues" her and brings her to Galveston to be his wife and mother to his son. His deceased wife's best friend, Nan, is both caretaker of Oscars son, and housekeeper to a man she finds herself falling in love with.I will admit I hated the ending. The author seemed to feel the need to cause a triple tragedy that leaves the reader wanting to toss the book across the room and asking why.If she had given her main character some redeeming quality, as well as rethought the end, the book would be a keeper.

This book is a slow moving easy going book with unpredictable turns and a surprising end. A moving look at people's lives that should be simple but turn tragic. This book depicts how a distant romantic fancy can take hold and never let go. A young man with unlikely prospects falls in love with a woman way beyond his station. But then Catherine, the woman, takes a sudden fall from grace. His prospects have brightened his life moved in a different direction but the sudden and tragic loss of his young wife and the job of raising their son alone leaves him at a loss. His wife's best friend is there to help but he wants a wife and a better life for his son that the best friend can not give. Catherine, the old romantic interest, writes unexpected letters which reach him when he needs a new beginning, as does she. Though it has been years since they've seen each other they begin a communication which results in a proposal and and then an unlikely marriage. Catherine has lost her father, been deserted by her mother and basically cast out of her prominent position in Dayton society. She is shunned by an admirer whom she believed loved her and whom she had given up everything for. In desperation she takes up Oscar's proposal of marriage and sets off to begin a new less lustrous life, one she could never have envisioned. Together they begin again only to face disaster. In the mist of life's storm they find each other and devastation.

This was one of the most memorable novels I have ever read. I could barely put it down. Well written and wonderfully depicted. Would highly recommend it to anyone

dans le Golfe du Mexique un ouragan se forme et qui va frapper la ville de Galveston et ses alentours le dimanche 8, laissant des milliers de morts. Et sur la terre ferme dans une ferme simple mais bien tenue, une autre tempête évoquée avec pudeur, deux femmes Catherine et Nan, que tout sépare, sont amoureuses du même homme, le brave mais taiseux Oscar. A Catherine, le piano dans les salles de Pennsylvanie et d' Ohio et la" Sonate au Clair de Lune"; à Nan, la paysanne texane, le violon dans les bals de campagne et "Cotton-Eyed Joe".J'ai adoré ce roman qui traite des sujets universels comme le pardon et la rédemption; l'auteure n'a pas eu peur d'utiliser les symboles religieux catholiques comme le crucifix ou protestants comme l'hymne "Amazing Grace." Le résultat est un récit puissant, tendre, et surtout extrêmement touchant. J'ai termine la lecture la gorge serrée.Je recommande un autre roman de Ms. Weisgarber, très différent dans le décor car situé dans le Dakota du Sud, "The Personal History of Rachel Dupree" mais j'étais encore plus éblouie par "The Promise."P.S. Juste deux petites remarques -- la couverture de mon édition n'a pas beaucoup de rapport avec le sujet. J'aurais voulu voir quelque chose qui évoquerait la ville de Galveston. Et pour ceux et celles qui veulent se mettre "dans l'ambiance" en lisant ce roman, écoutez la chanson "Galveston" par le chanteur country Glen Campbell (1936 - 2017). Les chanteurs country, comme notre écrivaine du sud, savent, eux aussi, évoquer la perte et le deuil.

This book is stunning. It builds slowly, as you come to know the two main characters on a deep, extremely personal level. The intensity of the story grows, as the storm approaches and by the final third of the book, it is impossible to put down. I was literally breathless as I read, my heart pounded. The author's description of the storm was terrifying and I actually wept in fear for all the fictional characters who had grown so real in my mind. By the time I turned the final page, I was physically exhausted and yet I could not sleep. My thoughts continue to be haunted by the characters and the imagery of this novel, and I believe they will be for some time. If you enjoyed Weisgarber's first book, you will be even more impressed with The Promise. This is literary, character-driven fiction at its very best.

The novel ends with the devastating hurricane that hit Galveston, Texas in 1900, giving you a frightening sense of what it may feel like to be part of one. It's a pure coincidence that I read this novel a couple of weeks ago before the recent horrendous floods in Houston, which is not far from Galveston. The main part of the novel is about a fictional relationships between a professional pianist who decides to escape the scandal surrounding her affair with a married man by rushing into a marriage with an admirer from her schooldays, a widower who is looking for someone to bring up his young son in the right sort of manner. They knew little about each other, and she soons finds she is ill suited to her new life. His home help, who had been hoping to marry the man herself, tries hard to tolerate the new wife. Although they are polite to one another, we find out what each other thinks about the other as the narration moves between the two women. A well written story.

Un roman très touchant sur l'amour et la rédemption, tout en finesse et subtilité. A lire absolument, un vrai bijou !