This was a very insightful novel and I learned a great deal about the illness of OCD. Staggering and very thought provoking. There is a range of passions and subjects which bring life to every page. I highly recommend it.
Many thanks to Lake Union Publishing and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book was terribly difficult for me to read. Not for any reason but that it is about OCD and mental illness. During the first third of the book, I struggled to read a couple of pages a day. By the second third, I wanted to know what was going to happen to Maisie and Katie. In the final third of the book, I loved all the characters and had to finish to find out where each of them ended up. It had to be a hard book to write. I knew a little about OCD - some have to wash their hands a hundred times a day and some have to touch things four times but I didn’t realize the voices they hear and how destructive they can be. I wasn’t entertained by the book but I did learn a lot and I was moved by the story. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy for my honest opinion.

Kate suffers from OCD and anxiety, something she developed after giving birth to her daughter Maisie. This led to her leaving the family home as she was so fraught that she would do something to harm her child. Ten years later she is working as a metal artist and accidently comes across her daughter who appears to have similar symptoms as herself. Can Katie help Maisie and prevent her having the mental illness that has taken so much from Kate’s life?OCD is far more than “just having to have the towels folded a certain way”. For some it is a never ending cycle of anxiety that dominates their world and this book portrays this well. ““If you leave your newborn child because you have unstoppable thoughts of harming her, are you a good mother or a terrible one? “ . You can’t help but feel and want Kate to overcome her issues. The book is written from the viewpoints of the main characters so each tells their own side. A brave subject to write about and handled sensitively and well researched. Kate is selfless is wanting the best for Maisie and at times this is a poignant read. A highly enjoyable memorable, different read.
(rest of links as part of blog tour)

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read an advanced copy of The Promise Between Us by Catherine Claypole White.

As always this author has delivered another best seller!

I have read all of Barbara Claypole White’s books and have loved all of them. This one may be my favorite. My favorite characters, Katie and Maisie, have OCD, but all the characters are dealing with emotional issues created by incidents in their past. They navigate difficult situations with very human flaws and mistakes, but always with hope. Barbara doesn’t give us a happy ending tied up neatly with a bow. Rather, she gives us the feeling that these characters are healing and heading in the right direction, but will continue to navigate the world in their own unique ways. Bravo, Barbara!

Mental illness is the most insidious and hidden problem families face. Barbara Claypoole White brings it out in the open with this gut-wrenching, yet tender story. Jodi Picoult says it best.

“This is an eye-opening and realistic exploration of mental illness—a topic that greatly deserves to be front and center.” —Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of Small Great Things

Rebecca Rosenberg
THE SECRET LIFE OF MRS. LONDON
GOLD DIGGER, the remarkable Baby Doe Tabor
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Wow, I rarely rate a book 5 stars but The Promise Between Us hit me in the heart. Hard. The flawed characters made me want to care for them. I wanted to blame Callum for everything but in the end I could not. Through out the reading I felt the author’s investment in these characters. Her love for them came through. She gave the reader a peak into her heart. Thank you #netgalley for the opportunity to read this book prerelease. #thepromisebetweenus #BarbaraClaypooleWhite

Awesome story. You'll get incites to OCD and anxiety. Problems associated with this medical issue. Life can be hard but sometimes the issues will make you stronger. This story did an excellent job showing how to deal.

Metal artist, Katie Mack, is living a lie. Nine years ago, she ran away from her family in Raleigh, North Carolina, consumed by the irrational fear that she’d hurt her newborn daughter, Maisie. Over the years, Katie has come to grips with her mental illness and funnels her pain and anxiety into her art. Despite her terrible longing for her daughter, she’s honoring the agreement she made with her ex husband to change her name and never come back. But, when a twist of fate brings Maisie back into her life, she can’t ignore the familiarity of her daughter’s compulsive behavior and her intense anxiety, which mirrors her own. Maisie is obsessively worried about bad things happening to her stepmom and unborn sibling. Katie knows that she can help her daughter cope but, to do so means reconnecting with the family family she left behind.

This was such a well written, intense, emotional story! The author manages to give so much insight into what it’s really like to deal with obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety, and depression. She manages to impart the facts of these cruel disorders with so much compassion and grace. I can really tell how much research and work Barbara Claypole White did into ocd, both in adults and children, as well as Katie and Ben’s art, and the horrors Cal and Jake faced as children. I was deeply impressed with the way she was able to incorporate everything. Her writing honestly reminds me a little of Josi Picoult’s but she’s completely her own writer at the same time. Her characters are so intensely fragile, damaged, strong, and courageous, all at the same time. And I loved how they all interacted, how they all have the same ultimate goals in mind, but were trying to reach them in totally different ways.

I am so glad that I listened to this incredible book. Justine Eyre does an amazing job narrating with the whole spectrum of emotions and emotional angst. It took my right into the heart of OCD.

With all the questioning and checking that Katie did, it just made it real to me! Well do come! Barbara Claypole White has outdone herself with the writing and drawing me into OCD! Marvelous Read!

This is honestly such an incredible book, I have no words. I absolutely LOVED it. I have been recommending it to everyone I talk to. SO SO GOOD.

Loved, Loved, Loved! I felt the characters had a lot of depth and the story just flowed. I plan to buy this book as gifts. Really wonderful book!

Every thought is just a thought until you assign it meaning.
Angie Alexander, founder of friends with OCD

My rating for The Promise Between Us reflects how I felt about the story and how I connected with the characters.

Barbara Claypole White does a good job here with all the information and telling us what it’s like to live with OCD and I learned some things I didn’t know. She explores a different side of OCD. I really appreciated learning that different side to OCD that I was not aware of. She does a great telling us and explaining the feeling of something is not right and how that can lead to obsessive thoughts and the snowball effect of those thoughts on someone who experiences OCD.

Where I struggled with the story was, I felt it was told to us instead of showing us through the characters and allowing me to feel for and connect with the characters. All the information felt a bit overwhelming at times for me and that overshadowed the story for me.

This was a sister read with Lindsay.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Barbara Claypole White for a copy of this title to read and review.

‘The Promise Between Us’ is the first book that I’ve read by Barbara Claypole White but it most certainly will not be the last. I loved her writing style which I found to be reminiscent of one of my favorite writers, Jodi Picoult. Similar to Picoult the chapters each highlight one of the main characters.
This is a story about family, sacrifices, and how far one will go to protect those they love. This is a very insightful book that details the struggles faced by those suffering from OCD.
I loved the character development and the unconventional family. Highly recommend.

What a book! My second BCW read and it will not be my last.

In this novel, Ms. White tackles some tough subject matter and delves into the different areas of OCD. I was unaware that it can take many forms stemming from different triggers. The characters in this book are well developed and all have their own issues, from the OCD (passed down through generations), sexual abuse, anxiety, problems treatment available etc. I fell in love with Maisie, her real mom, Katie, her step mom, Lilah, her dad Callum and Uncle J. I was rooting for them all to overcome their struggles with each other and within themselves.

Katie fled her family, abandoning her baby girl Maisie when she thought the "little voice in her head" was going to lead to her harming her baby. Callum, her now ex husband, had no idea how to help her and get her back. All the while he was struggling with past abuse and anxiety that he was hiding from everyone. After Katies departure, Cal decides to tell Maisie her real mom has passed away and moves on and is married to Lilah, who is pregnant with their child. Maisie begins to hear the "voice" inside her, questioning her thoughts, actions. The voice that tells her that Lilah is going to die, the baby is going to die and it is all her fault. Maisie, Lilah, Cal and Uncle J have no idea this is OCD. Maisie begins a docent program at CAM and ends up face to face with her real mother, a welder. Katie struggles with this, and the voices in her head that keep telling her she is going to harm her little girl, while trying not to let on that she is her real mother. The characters grow and develop and the truth eventually comes out changing all their lives for the better.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read and the opportunity to learn know about this mental illness, not often talked about enough.

The Promise Between Us by Barbara Claypole White delivers to its readers a heartfelt family drama surrounding OCD. As they deal with the challenges OCD causes, White’s characters feel authentically developed based on circumstances, struggles, and personality, and the problems they face prove complicated, with no easy solutions to determine or implement.

As I read, my heart broke again and again for the MacDonald family. With circumstances and choices that seem impossible to navigate, each character (except Maisie) has his or her unlikable moments, yet not one of them is wholly bad. Despite their flaws and brokenness (or perhaps, because of them, as all the details come to light), I grew to like all of them over the course of the book, and I’m glad that White doesn’t leave them without hope by the end.

Well-told and emotionally-charged, with a valuable look at dealing with OCD (and the possibility of strength and resilience amidst consuming, perceived weakness), The Promise Between Us is a compelling read. I enjoyed reading it and often had a hard time putting it down when needed. Readers interested in contemporary drama involving family and mental illness, I think, will enjoy it, too, and should definitely consider this book from Barbara Claypole White.

This book was amazing! Anyone who suffers with OCD or has a family member who does must read this! So many things in this book struck very close to home! My OCD also manifested post-partum with the birth of my first child and only got worse after each consecutive birth! I always called it a 'Mom thing', this anxiety and worry that I Constantly live with. This well written book helped explain so much to me! I will be searching for more by this author post haste!

Excellent, well written, thought provoking and real. Five stars.

This book is a realistic look into how it is to live with OCD and not be diagnosed. It is also a terrifying look into an estranged mother's desperate attempt to help her daughter with the beginning signs of OCD.
I was familiar with OCD before reading this book but I only had a limited amount of knowledge of how OCD can control your whole life.

Barbara Clayton Poole told the story of a woman's struggle and also of how her daughter, ex-husband and ex brother- in- law are trying to figure out how to deal with a mental illness they are not prepared for.

I give this book 5 stars and highly recommend it for a book club or just for yourself. I love a book that has a very interesting storyline and also teaches me or helps me to better understand.

Thank you to Netgalley and also to the publishers of this book. I look forward to following Barbara Claypole White on Facebook and reading her other novels.

I loved this book! I love Barbara’s writing! Highly recommend