I'm a multi-booker, meaning I read several books at once. I knew that "The Wife's Promise" was something special, when, at nearly 30% in, I stopped reading all my other books just to finish this one! There are so many things about this book that appealed to me. I loved the fact that the story is told from a dual timeline, and chocked full of historical references. The characters are all wonderful, and the character growth is well paced and absolutely perfect. This gem is a clean read, which can sometimes be difficult to find for adult readers. I'm extremely excited to begin reading book two of the quartet. I hope it gives me all the feels this first book did!!

A huge thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for the chance to review this book ahead of its November 17, 2022 release.

The Goswell Quartet Book 1 ‘The Wife's Promise’ is the first novel in a series of four. It was first published on October 18th, 2013, as ‘The Vicar’s Wife’ by Katharine Swartz, the pseudonym used by Kate Hewitt at that time. The two narrators in this story are ladies who both shared their homes with each other albeit it seventy years apart. Alice James starts her story in the late 1930’s, and Jane Hatton tells the modern story of change in a new country, new beginnings and looking into the future.
Alice lives with her father in Cambridge as our story starts. He is visited by a former pupil called David who is on holiday. Alice takes a shine to gregarious and kind David, who is a Vicar now resident in Goswell, Cumbria. The spark of attraction of David to Alice is also evident and the two start their friendship straight after their first meeting. By the time David travels back home to Goswell Vicarage, he has made sure Alice wants to read his postal letters from her Cambridge home and return her news to him via the post, and so the blooming romance starts. David’s second visit to Cambridge sees him proposing and a very excited and soon after, Alice marrying her beau, and travelling back to Goswell Vicarage as his young wife just nineteen-years-of-age. At first, she is terribly homesick. The Vicarage is massive but the windows rattle and the cold winds off the beautiful coastline are icy cold. She is innocent as David is her first suitor, now husband. The housekeeper is snooty and dismissive of her. But the love she feels for David makes everything seem so worthwhile. She is determined to make new beginnings and be the best wife she can be. She has a lot to learn as mistress of the large house, but she is keen and determined.
Jane and her husband Andrew have three children. They met when Andrew was in New York City. They courted, married and their life together is good. Andrew stayed in NYC for sixteen years and then he broke the news that he wanted to go back to his homeland. Jane loves the bustle of the city, and she loves her charitable work. They have three children who will soon settle in their new home, but she cannot believe that Andrew wants to live in a remote and windy place like Cumbria. But he has applied for a job, has been accepted and he has gone to Goswell and bought a large house that used to be a Vicarage. The family start to settle in their new home but Jane pines for her old city life and her charity work. She feels useless, whereas when she was working in her own charity, she bloomed and buzzed. She loved the parties and truth be told she begrudged the new position as a mother and housewife. She felt as though she was useless, though she would never talk about it because she knew it was selfish. She even contemplated buying a small flat in New York City and spending equal time in New York and Goswell. Her children were growing up, they no longer needed her, and she felt enslaved.
This is the compelling story of two housewives, living seventy years apart, but in the same house, and both of them out of their comfort zones at first. Alice lived through the Second World War and Jane felt displaced and unsure of her future. When their threads are merged together, so the stories take a totally different turn, and the historical story implodes into Jane’s life in the most unexpected way. The storytelling was vivid, and I found myself imagining the lives of the two narrators. The characters in each story were engaging and very well documented. My favourite story was told by Alice, and Alice and David had a really loving marriage. Their historical story was well researched and authentic. I thought Jane was selfish and unwilling to make a go of new beginnings, but nevertheless I did have some sympathy for her unwanted lot. I thought her husband Andrew was patient and wise. I enjoyed this story, but I did feel that the ending was a little abrupt.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher Bookouture through my membership of NetGalley. Thank you for my copy sent in return for an honest and unbiased review. I thought the story as a whole was engaging and poignant, and I enjoyed reading it.

Wife's Promise (The Goswell Quartet Book 1)

My first book in this series We start this series by meeting Jane who's moving country with her husband and kids. Jane struggles to find herself in the UK compare to New York.

We also meet Alice who lived in the house 70 years ago. Alice is 20 years old and loves reading other skills are not her first she meet David and married him and moved to Goswell.

Reading both these woman's journeys. Each woman has her troubles whilst adjusting to the Goswell.

I like reading each other's stories as very unique but shows how each one had their struggles and had to deal with them in the same place.

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@bookoture

Set in the village of Goswell, Cumbria during the war years and also in modern day.

In 1930, Alice marries Vicar David and she moves from Cambridge to the old vicarage in Goswell. As much as she loves the kindly, gentle David, Alice never feels at home in the drafty old house and finds it difficult to settle in the village as the Vicar's wife.

In modern day, Jane, an American and her husband Andrew, an Englishman, and their children move from New York City to the old vicarage in the village of Goswell. Jane, though raising her three children, had a job she loved in New York and finds life very different in a small English village. One day Jane finds a handwritten shopping list from a previous inhabitant of the house.

This is a story of personal sacrifice but also of love. I loved this book by Kate Hewitt and look forward to reading the other three books in the series.

The Wife's Promise is the first book in the Goswell Quartet by Kate Hewitt. The book was previously released under the author's other name Katharine Swartz.

The book focuses on two women, Alice whose story is set in the 30s, and Jane whose story is set in the present time. The latter and her family move from New York to the sleepy town of Goswell in the UK. Jane struggles terribly to adapt to the enormous change in her life, not least, living in an old vicarage that is too big and cold. Alice finds herself living in Gosford when she marries the vicar of the parish and she moves into the Vicarage with him. It isn't long before Alice, despite loving her husband very much, starts to feel down and misses her father and home.

In The Wife's Promise, Jane finds a note in the Vicarage's pantry written by Alice when she lived there. She can't help but wonder what Alice's life was like, whether she was happy there and what happened to her. We follow both women's stories told in alternate chapters, Jane's and then Alice's which makes it easy to compare their stories and appreciate the comparisons and differences in their circumstances.

It took me a little while to get into the story but once I did, I couldn't read quickly enough to find out what happened to both women. Their stories, especially Alice's kept me captivated. I really enjoyed her story a lot because of the way life was so much different in her era and of course, she had to cope during the war. As Jane discovered all of Alice's story it helped her to appreciate her own life and with each new thing she uncovered I got more and more invested in the book.

I definitely want to read the other books in the quartet because I definitely like this author's style of writing.

This is book #1 from the Tales of Goswell Series and I am currently working my way through the four books I have.

The is a story in dual timeline with the first being in England in 1939 and the second being in the present. Alice marries David, David goes to war and Alice takes in a small evacuee child. Fast forward to the present and a family moves in to a vicarage in Goswell, one and the same as the one Alice and David lived in.

And so this is the story of these two wives, told 70 years apart but in a way came together as one. I must say I liked it in parts and disliked it in other parts. I love the idea , the story and the characters but sometimes I got annoyed with the glumness of parts of both women's stories but I guess they would have been glum in such situations.

Overall though it is a good book, well written and a very good read. I do look forward to seeing what the next three books bring.

This was a decent read. A well spun story that retained interest throughout. It draws out the acclimatisation problems of moving house and then transcending culture. There is a nice dynamic explored between a mother and teenage daughter.

The Wife's Promiise by Kate Hewitt

A dual timeline novel. Alice in 1939 and Jane in the present day . Set in the ( fictional Cumbrian village ) of Goswell.
I liked how the two stories were linked and came together and seeing the difference of the village and the people within it.
I enjoyed the book and will look out for the next in the series.

“The Wife’s Promise” is the first book in the Tales from Goswell series by Kate Hewitt. This book ws previously published as “The Vicar’s Wife” in 2013.

What I liked about the book - how the author tied together the seemingly unconnected stories of Jane Hatton and Alice James. I also liked that the chapters were short and it was easy to keep track of which character’s story was being told. I liked how both women were lonely (and frustrated) in their new home and how they didn’t feel like they fit in. I also liked how the current vicar decided to look into records to help Jane connect to Alice - nice little bonus touch.

What I was meh about: I couldn’t tell if this was a Christian book or not - G-d was mentioned (along with some Bible passages) and Alice’s husband was a vicar, but in the beginning it seemed like at least Alice’s storyline would’ve had more of a Christian bent - opposed to a few random mentions. Another thing that I felt was odd was the item that was missing (won’t give it away) - such drama, never solved, why was it even mentioned if nothing was going to be done about that incident? It just felt like “need drama here” and it was done, but then it just lay there.

What I didn’t like: Jane is a native New Yorker. Why, after two or so weeks being in the UK is she referring to 23 degrees as “balmy” - oh, wait, she’s already converting to Celsius (that really threw me). Also, I had some issues with the visas - both to live in the UK and working there for Jane. Also, why Jane couldn’t do part-time work for her former company seemed odd to me - she could still email or phone folks while the kids were at school. I also found Jane to be so self-absorbed and miserable for so much of the book.

I think overall this book was a good idea, but it wasn’t executed as well as it could’ve been. It had glimmers of potential, but it wasn’t quite what I expected.

An easy, well-written novel with two timelines. Whereas I am not keen on dual times, I must admit that it worked here very well: parallels between the two are thought provoking (what makes home?), and I was very interested in understanding these two women (as well as their lives ' purpose) separated not only by decades, but also their ways of seeing life.
I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

A great beginning to the series I’m not going to start book 2. Its historical setting and fresh, contemporary style will appeal to both historical fiction and romance readers. It is an utterly bedazzling novel, a compulsive page-turner rich in historical detail, and a heart-stopping debut romance. Each book cover is eye catching too. A lovely collection of books!

This a quick fun read. The dual timeline is something I do not like, but with this book, it works…Alice comes alive on the pages…the protagonist learns about her…researches…plants a garden in her honor…all from a grocery list…intrigue…secrets…the past and the present together…family and friends. Moving from NYCity to England…a big difference…adjusting…starting over. I liked this book. The author is talented and gifted. The story is difficult to put down. I really liked this book. It was sent to me by Netgalley electronically for review. Enjoy.

I binge read this novel. I really was hopeful for it however I found it quite annoying because the main character did not recognize how good she had it. She spent so much time caught up in her emotions to not see her husband and family's sacrifice. There was some level of clean Christian focus in this however I was hopeful for more. I will read the other novels with hope that there is more!

This is the first book in the Goswell Quartet, four stories linked by the village of Goswell in coastal England. First, you have to get past the awful title, which makes this book sound like a cross between a Hallmark Movie and a smutty book. It’s actually a dual timeline narrative between the present and 1931. In the present, Jane and her family have moved to the village from Manhattan. Her husband has a new job, her kids are in school and Jane is at loose ends and feeling alone and cut off from the world. She comes across an old shopping list, and desperate to make some sort of connection with the old vicarage that she and her family now inhabit, she forms a tenuous connection to the woman who wrote it. In 1931, Alice finds herself falling in love with a vicar from Goswell. She leaves her home behind to start a new life with her new husband, but it seems that her new life is cursed, losing a baby and then dealing with the struggles and privations of World War II. This is such a lovely story, I felt like I knew the characters personally. Highly recommended