The Promise

I was surprised by just how much I loved this novel! Ann Weisgarber's simple prose and delicate character portrayals combined to create an emotional story which almost had me in tears by the end - and books rarely make me cry. I you are a more sensitive reader I suggest making sure you have chocolate and a handkerchief to hand before you open the cover. The Promise, for me, was reminiscent of Kent Haruf's Plainsong trilogy. I think readers who appreciated those novels will also love this one. It took me a couple of chapters to begin to empathise with Catherine and Nan, but once I did I was completely hooked.

What worked so brilliantly for me in The Promise was the fraught relationships between Catherine and Oscar, Nan and Oscar, and between Catherine and Nan. In writing that I have realised that this is a kind of love triangle novel, but not in the usual sense of that trope which would simply have exasperated me. Instead, here, the awkwardness between these people getting to know each other is brilliantly - and painfully - portrayed. Weisgarber's stilted conversations are perfectly pitched. I could feel every embarrassed blush and desperate grasp for a word to bridge the silence.

I also appreciated learning about rural Texas at the turn of the last century, especially the particular difficulties of life on the narrow Galveston peninsula. I wasn't previously aware of the 1902 hurricane so didn't pick up on the significance of Weisgarber's use of dates to indicate the approaching disaster. I did feel the strong sense of foreboding though and imagine this would have been all the more intense for readers with a better knowledge of Texan history. The hurricane scenes themselves are breathtaking. Incredible writing! I chose The Promise just on a whim at a book exchange and am delighted to have done so. It is a gem.