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

Liz Tolsma has given us another great WWII novel in What I Promise You. This dual timeline story, with both current and WWII timelines has its share of heart-wrenching and heart-tugging elements.

As is usual in her historical fiction novels, the author has done a great deal of research and mixes factual elements with an intriguing fictional story. This story, set in and near a transit camp in France, delves into some of the terrible dangers and losses of WWII. But heroes also emerge directly in that camp and in a nearby maternity hospital where many children and young mothers are given chances at survival. Noémie Treves plays an important role in that part of the story. In the current timeline of the story, Caitlyn Laurent is searching for some answers in her life and finds a strong thread of connection to that fascinating story from WWII.

In both timelines, the characters are rich and well-developed, and their stories draw you in from the first page to the last. As I read the story, it was easy to imagine myself in those various timelines and locations.

This is the second book in Liz's Echoes of the Past series. Although both stories have a WWII theme and setting, they are stand alones. I would recommend the first book, What I Would Tell You, as another great read.

I highly recommend What I Promise You to anyone who enjoys great inspirational stories set in the era of WWII. Thank you to Celebrate Lit for providing a copy of the book. I am happy to share my own thoughts in this review.

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!