France 1942 - Noémie is a Jewish woman who is taken to a holding camp with her husband during WWII. Soon after arriving, she is able to go to a maternity hospital for expectant mothers & children, since she herself was pregnant. 1955 - Having to remember & walk through what hurts the most from our past can be so painful, but so very healing. 2022 - Caitlyn has been through a traumatic accident & experienced a great loss. She’s trying to move forward & the mystery behind her Pops background & where he’s from in France is a helpful distraction. What I Promise You tells a story of tragedy & pain, but also of strength & resilience. The author does an excellent job weaving the different years & characters together, l’ll definitely be reading more from Liz Tolsma!

In this triple timeline historical fiction novel, readers travel between World War II France, twenty-first century Barcelona, and an unknown third location in 1955. Following Noemie (who later changes her name to Helene), Caitlyn, and a third narrator, readers try to uncover Caitlyn’s family history and its connections to a tiny French town and maternity hospital. Caitlyn, recovering from the death of her close friend, struggles to reconcile with her trauma and the life she is currently living, while Noemie must hide herself from the Nazi occupiers, protect her unborn child, and stay with her husband. As the novel progresses, readers explore the dangers of motherhood during the German occupation of France and the loss of names, records, and history through deliberate or accidental decisions. Tolsma’s characters are fantastic -- complex, developed, imperfect, and realistic -- and their personal journeys over the course of the novel are incredibly compelling. Their friendships with other minor characters are incredibly relevant to their narrative journeys and the larger plot, and the minor characters are also complex and well-developed. The triple perspectives (and the mysterious third narrator) are fascinating and immersive, and Tolsma has done a fantastic job building this world up and bringing it to life in this excellent historical fiction novel.

This book was a little hard to follow at first because of the three different timeframes/points of view but once I got that figured out it was soo good. An amazing story with lots of love and a few tears.

I adored this dual time novel set in occupied France in 1942 and in modern times. In 1942, pregnant Noemie and her husband Levi have just been taken to Camp de Rivesaltes. Noemie takes pity on some girls from her neighborhood and helps them to escape to a maternity hospital. She gets tasked with helping create new identities for the women and children there. As raids become more and more frequent on the maternity hospital, Noemie and her new friends must do what they can to prevent capture. Will Noemie be able to avoid being captured? Will she be able to keep everyone's identity safe? In modern times, Caitlyn is currently in a missionary training school in Spain. She knows that her grandfather was born in France at a maternity hospital during the war. She is determined to find out more information for her grandfather while he is still lucid. Will Caitlyn be able to discover more about her grandfather's origins? This was a great historical fiction book that was perfectly woven through the past and the present. There were several mysteries to be solved throughout the book that kept you wanting more. Highly recommend this book for lovers of historical fiction.

I have read a lot of the other books in this series, so I enjoyed reading more about the characters in What I Promise You. Well written and thought provoking!

This was the first book I’ve read by Liz Tolsma and I will definitely read more. There’s three timelines involved in this book and the author does a brilliant job of writing about these. It is high in faith content, but not preachy. It made this Christian reader think and re evaluate God’s plans for my life. Am I living my life for God ? It addresses the ago old question, Why does God allow bad things to happen?

The author describes scenes amazingly. I could picture the scenes in my head, the beautiful scenery, the deplorable conditions at the camp, the foods the missionary students were eating. The author brings all senses into awareness as she wrote this story. I was blessed with a free advance review copy, and I’m submitting my review voluntarily. Highly recommend.

Sometimes past secrets impact the present...

If there is one thing that author Liz Tolsma is quite good at, it's telling a story brimming with hope despite the darkness of circumstances. What I Promise You had all of the historical drama, the sweet and the poignant moments alike, and the modern characters' charming curiosity about the past, that I've come to love about the Echoes Of The Past series.

What I Promise You is one of those emotionally moving stories that are also heartbreaking at times. The Holocaust and its aftermath are very heavy topics but I feel that Liz Tolsma handled it well and with sensitivity. This second Echoes Of The Past novel doesn't hide the horror and evil that occurred while avoiding being graphic.

Each Echoes Of The Past book is a standalone story with similar threads and the same type of historical/modern split-time style. Split-time is something that Liz Tolsma also does quite well and it shows in What I Promise You.

Needless to say, I enjoyed reading What I Promise You, even the heart-tugging moments, and I am certainly hoping that there will be another Echoes Of The Past novel coming from Liz Tolsma. Hopefully, I won't have to wait too long...

(I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.)

What I Promise You is a split time book. In fact there are three different time levels . It takes place during World War11. There was so much tragedy during this war and so many lives lost and of course so many lives were ruined. Children were killed unnecessarily, children were separated from their parents and family. The story takes place mostly in home donated from a wealthy gentleman and used as a hospital where the women of the Holocaust could give birth that were pregnant and be safe for a time and their children would be safe.... The present day is a woman searching for the parents of her grandfather because he always said he was born in this particular hospital during World War 11 so she is searching for proof of who he has descended from. This is a very interesting book and one that will hold your attention from the very first until the last. It has a very different ending but you will not be disappointed. Many thanks to the author and the publisher for an E-copy that I was able to read and I am happy to leave my review.

Noemie is a young, pregnant Jewish woman. She is arrested in 1942 and taken to the Camp de Rivesaltes in Southwest France. It is harsh and difficult. Soon after she arrives, she helps two young girls escape to a nearby maternity hospital. A matron there changes Noemie's name and helps hide her.

In 2022, Caitlyn from Chicago is in Spain for missionary training. Her grandfather recalled being born in France, near Spain. On weekends, Caitlyn travels to look for the hospital that her grandfather was born.

This was dual-timeline, heart-wrenching story.

This beautiful, excellent, heart-wrenching novel demonstrates the love of God and how it transcends any plan made by the enemy. We meet women from two generations. The first woman and her family are in 1942 Vichy France, the second, in present day Europe and America. One woman in each generation was tormented by guilt and grief. One lost her faith, and the other had never believed in God. In 1955, a third person reflects on their memories of WWII. All made promises to loved ones that they desperately wanted to keep.

We experience the hearts of women who faced devastating events and intense spiritual battles. Some sought any glimmer of hope and some became lifelong friends. We see love – the love of those who risked their own life to smuggle others to freedom or to get badly needed food and healthcare. The love of a mother who would do anything to save her child. Reflections of the love that only comes from the Lord.

Noemie and Levi were arrested in the middle of the night. Since the war began, they had lost almost everything except each other and their unborn child. They thought they were safe in the little town they moved to, but for Jewish people, there was no safe place in France in 1942. They were allowed one suitcase each to take to the internment camp. Visits between them are few and brief, through the fence between their barracks.

Conditions were harsh and survival difficult. Truckloads of men and women were often taken to the train bound for camps in Poland. One day, a woman came to take two girls, children of Noemie’s former neighbors, to a safe place. They were terrified being separated from their parents again. Noemie, pregnant, knew the girls and was smuggled out with them to a maternity hospital for pregnant women and children. Eleanor, a nurse from Switzerland, ran it.

Fast forward eighty years, and Caitlyn, from Chicago, is in Barcelona for final training to be a missionary. She and her best friend, Lindsey, had planned it for years. Before they graduated college, however, Lindsey was killed in a car accident and Caitlyn had been her passenger. Going forward on her own felt impossible, but she had promised Lindsey.

Before she left Chicago, her grandfather recalled being told he was born in France, not far from the border with Spain. If she had the chance, he would love it if she could get a picture of the maternity hospital where he was born. She could not deny Pops, who had dementia, anything, so she promised to see what she could find.

Finding the hospital was not as easy as it sounded. She and classmates Elissa and Aiden took the train into France on weekends when time allowed. The hospital, now a museum, was in a different town. The records, probably hidden during the war, were scattered. Her faith had suffered a near-fatal blow when Lindsey died, and she was on the edge of flunking out.

I loved this novel and wanted to hurry through to see what happened, but I also wanted to savor the beautiful prose and insights. The author is excellent at describing people and events with dignity and grace in one of the darkest periods of history. The ending brought huge surprises and was satisfying in many ways. I learned much from this novel. I highly recommend this novel to women of faith who appreciate Christian novels set during WWII with relatable, realistic characters and spiritual lessons.

From a thankful heart: I read an uncorrected proof of this novel provided by Celebrate Lit and NetGalley on behalf of the publisher, Barbour.

This is a story that is both heartbreaking and hopeful. It is a story that has three timelines that we are tracking. One taking place in a period of time in France during 1942, the 2022 timeline, and a timeline that takes place in one day during 1955. All are relevant and pieces to the puzzle of the story the author is telling.

What I Promise You is a WWII story that was unique in that it focused on expectant mothers and their children in an occupied France. I cannot even imagine the horrors and fears those women experienced living in a war zone without husbands or family. The author has some really great notes at the end of what was fiction and what was not.

Even though this has some very sad parts, and those were hard to read, this was a book I needed to finish. It was somewhat of a mystery too, as all the past parts and the characters fit together to make up the picture that those in 2022 are trying to uncover and upsets all they thought they knew. The narrator in the timeline of 1955 was a mystery person till the end reveal. Even though that timeline's chapters were brief, they were the chapters that seemed to propel the story forward. I really enjoyed how the author told this story and how it all fit together.

Again, this was a hard read in some parts, but overall, the story was rewarding as it showed that in the face of evil, good will make the necessary sacrifices.

I was provided a copy of this novel from the publisher. I was not required to post a positive review and all views and opinions are my own.

MY THOUGHTS

What I Promise You is written by Liz Tolsma. This is book two in the Echos of the Past series. One of the things that I love about this author, is her ability to transport readers back in time. She always does such extensive research to bring her stories to life. She has written the timeline split seamlessly. We see stories in 1945, 1955 and 2022.
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. The author does a fantastic job showing us what Noémie had to navigate. The pain that Noémie experiences when being separated from her husband and the uncertainty of her safety with her unborn child was so heartbreaking. The emotions come off the pages as you feel her pain.
Our 1955 character, Helene, did not get as many chapter as the other time periods but her story is important in connecting the story. Helene and her faith is so strong.
Present day, Caitlyn Laurant travels to France while she is a nurse in training. She wants to go to the place where her grandfather was born, however she has a hard time finding his presence.
I went through a lot of emotions reading this story. The author captured the darkness of World War II so vividly. I have really enjoyed this series. Thank you to the author, publisher and Celebrate Lit for allowing me to read a copy of this book - all thoughts are my own.

This was a really heart wrenching story. I loved how the author made us care about the characters from the very first page. I also loved how she made us feel what they were feeling as they suffered through the things they suffered. I loved how she told the story from different perspectives from different times. I also loved how she took us back to WWII and told us about things that I did no know. I loved how she pulled on our emotions and made us love this story. I thought this was a very well told story.

I received a complimentary book from publishers, publicists, and or authors.  A review was not required and all opinions and ideas expressed are my own.

What I Promise You by Liz Tolsma is the second book in her Echoes of the Past series. This is a dual time-frame story. In 1942 Noemie Treves is arrested and sent to a transit camp. In 2022 Caitlyn Laurant is dealing with the aftermath of a tragic accident. In training to be a missionary nurse, Caitlyn travels to France to visit her grandfather’s birthplace. But, her search becomes complicated by the events that transpired in 1942. We see first hand the tragedy that war brings with the telling of Noemie’s story. But we also got to see the heroines that this time-frame created. You never quite know what you are capable of until you are faced with impossible odds. I enjoyed the way that the story was laid out and the hope and resilience that it shared.


I received this book from Celebrate-Lit for my honest review.

What I Promise You
by Liz Tolsma
Pub Date 01 Feb 2024
Barbour Publishing,Barbour Fiction
Christian| Historical Fiction

Barbour Publishing and Netgalley provided me with a copy of What I Promise You to review:

If you are looking for a powerful dual timeline novel, look no further.


1942
When Noémie Treves was arrested and taken to the Camp de Rivesaltes transit camp in southwest France, her entire world was shattered. As soon as she arrives, she helps two young girls scheduled for transport escape to a nearby maternity hospital. She is befriended by the matron and her name is changed to help hide her. But nothing goes according to plan, and Hannah finds herself doing the unimaginable to save one precious life.Hannah finds herself doing the unimaginable to save one precious life when things don't go according to plan.
 
2022
Caitlyn Laurant hopes becoming a nurse on the mission field will help her forget recent events in her life. As part of her training, she and her friends travel to France, where her grandfather was born. A simple search for his birthplace turns into something far more complicated, revealing secrets no one alive has ever heard before.

I give What I Promise You five out of five stars!

Happy Reading!

“What I Promise You” is a well-researched WWII story that blends narratives that take place during the 40s, 50s, and present times. I’ve always been drawn to WWII settings and the extraordinary people who persevered the ugliness with faithful hearts and incredible courage.

I love how part of this story addresses those who risk everything to save others. What a beautiful storyline. But what shines brightest in this story is hope the two main characters Noemi and Caitlyn hold dear. Though I found it more challenging to connect with Caitlyn, I connected with Naomi with ease, and loved their courage, adaptability, and faith.

This is a beautiful, heart wrenching, suspenseful, hope-filled, story for those who love to read clean, historical fiction with elements of spiritual faith.

#CoverLoverBookReview received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions are 100% mine.

What I Promise You, by Liz Tolsma, is the second book in the Echoes of the Past series. The books are dual time line, stand alone stories that focus on WWII and modern day people.. In this story we meet Naomie, a young pregnant Jewish woman who is take away to a camp in France with her husband in 1942. We also meet Caitlyn, a young nurse training for the missionary field in 2022. While visiting France, Caitlyn searched to find out about her grandfather’s past.

This is an interesting story to read. We read of first hand accounts of what Naomie endured in France at the camp and then the maternity hospital. The person in charge of the hospital not only over sees it but she also makes trips to the camp to rescue others. I enjoyed the information of how the hospital ran and how she kept everyone safe. We also read of how Caitlyn is so diligent at searching for answers for her grandfather while struggling with the loss of her best friend and training for the mission field. I appreciate the in depth research the author has done to bring about this wonderful story. This is a wonderful story of living through extreme situations and moving forward with life.

I voluntarily received a complimentary copy of this book, this is my honest review.

“You can’t live your life looking over your shoulder. Keep your eyes focused on what’s in front of you.”

As I sat down to read yet another World War II novel, this one What I Promise You by Liz Tolsma, I had to wonder why. Why are so many novels being written about WWII? How is this one different than others I’ve read?

The first question might be self-explanatory as we as a nation are at a point where we have very few survivors of WWII still alive, and perhaps we are trying to grasp pieces of history before they’re gone forever. Certainly, that’s one promise we want to make our ancestors- that we will never forget the atrocities that went on in Europe, man’s inhumane treatment of his fellow man, especially during that time.

Tolsma’s novel stands out because it deals largely with the treatment and rescue and raids of women and children. To think that a few people, like Nurse Reiter, Eleanor, Aime, and Helene could affect so many! While the characters are fictional, several were loosely based on real, live, brave people.

Another way Tolsma’s novel stands out is the fact that it is not a dual timeline, but a triple timeline! We are with Noemie in 1942 Perpignan, France, in third person POV; with an unidentified narrator in Elne, France, in 1955, written in first person POV; and Barcelona, Spain and southern France with Caitlyn in 2022, written again in third person POV. Tolsma exhibits a great deal of skill to have separated all those story threads beforehand, then to slowly piece and wind them, bit by bit, back together again! I loved how not only is What I Promise You historical and romantic, but now another layer has been added- that of mystery.

The depth of this story! The emotions each time period evokes! My heart is raw! When will Helene stop trying to give more than she can, in order to atone for her perceived past sin? When will Caitlyn decide whether she is following God or her plans from her childhood? Who will God place in these young women’s paths who will be a light in their darkest times?

I personally loved all the French phrases and felt it added an authenticity to the book. A glossary is provided at the front.

I received a copy of the book from the author through Celebrate Lit via Netgalley. I also bought my own ecopy. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own.

Notable Quotables:

“To give your offspring the best chance they have at life is the greatest gift you can give them.”

“What is right is not always easy.”

“There’s always the choice to do right or wrong.”

“I can’t live my life in fear of what might be. If I do, I’ll miss out on what is.”

From a most sad time in history, World War II. This story is written so well from 3 story viewpoints describing the 1940s lady, the 1950s lady who you think is the 1940s lady and then the 2000s lady who is related to one of these ladies. A genealogy mystery to solve, with sleuthing skill help from Caitlyn’s friends. As Caitlyn tries to figure this all out, she comes to a personal healing revelation for herself and heals from a traumatic experience involving her good friend. I appreciate the hard research work that went into writing this book. There are also many good quotes in here. I received this book for free from Celebrate Lit Tour and the opinions I express are honest and my own.
“You can’t live your life looking over your shoulder. Keep your eyes focused on what’s in front of you.”
“Do you promise to spend more time with the Lord and quiet yourself before Him.” – Quotes from book.

Dual time periods always intrigue me and this one has a bonus. It includes three time periods which adds to the excitement. We travel to a time in history where war was everywhere. People who were Jewish were taken to camps where families were split apart. Every time I read about this period in time I get emotional. How can someone have such hatred for others?

I was a bit confused about who was narrating the story set in 1955 and hoped it would be revealed sometime in the book. I kept thinking that whoever it was was going to be vital to the entire story as we get glimpses of someone wandering around an abandoned building. The author does a good job of keeping readers glued to the story as she brings the time periods together in an unforgettable story of family, faith and healing.

Caitlyn was the one who most captured my attention. Going away to become a missionary is admirable and at times you can sense her insecurity. Caitlyn has another agenda as she flies across the country. She promised her grandfather that she would visit the place he said he was born at. As her adventures begins to seek the truth, the author crafts a way to combine our three time periods together.

There is much grief suffered from a time when camps where there to keep people that had been judged unfairly because of their heritage. The story shows how a few people stepped up to save innocent children and women while placing their own freedom in jeopardy. Caitlyn comes to realize that she hadn’t really grieved the loss of her friend. She has been living her friend’s dream instead of her own.

The ending is so emotional I cried. A simple promise made to a friend finds Caitlyn on a journey to discover God’s purpose for her life. Her spiritual growth throughout the story is shown by her hunger to connect the past to the present. The author provides a realistic look at a time when families were torn apart and hope was all they had to cling to. I loved the story and how the author gave us a look at what sacrifice looks like by people who are willing to protect others.

“Sometimes what He has planned for us is radically different than what we have in mind for our own lives.”

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.