5 stars, Triple Timelines

Echoes of the Past Series #2
WHAT I PROMISE YOU
By Liz Tolsma

The triple timelines are 1942, 1955, and the present.

In World War 2, Noemie and her husband Levi are captured because they are Jewish. Noeme is pregnant, her husband promises to never leave her, and she promises to never leave their baby. There are unimaginable horrors of life in the concentration camps. Noemie is smuggled to a nearby maternity house in France and struggles there to hide her identity and keep their baby safe.

Echoes of the Past Series:
1. What I Would Tell You by Liz Tolsma
2. What I Promise You by Liz Tolsma

Highly recommend.

I received a complimentary copy of #WhatIPromiseYou from #BarbourFiction #BarbourPublishing #NetGalley I was not obligated to post a review.

#historicalfiction #ChristianFiction #InspyFic #WWII #Jews #EchoesOfThePastSeries #UnconditionalLove #Pregnancy #Genealogy #Family #Mystery

This was a difficult read. The author does a good job of putting you into the saga of WWII. Fear, uncertainty, loss, denial and more will tug at your heartstrings.
We are once again seeing the hatred of the Jewish people. My heart aches for them; even more so because most do not believe in Jesus as their Messiah.
But current times also include loss. It is only by relying on God for strength that we can get through.

I had a bit of a hard time getting into this book because starts in Vichy France during World War II and deals with Nazi treatment of Jewish women and children, and a maternity hospital set up nearby to protect them. There is a lot of loss, grief, pain and hopelessness happening, which is hard to read about. Thankfully Tolsma does a great job of weaving together three story strands – one set in 1942, one in 1955 and one in the present day – in which the characters gradually learn to hope, lean on the Lord, and deal with their grief and loss in various ways. If you can handle reading about the atrocities of the Nazis, the book is well worth reading.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own." #WhatIPromiseYou #NetGalley

What I Promise You by Liz Tolsma goes into World War II France and the Concentration camps. It is bad enough with all the horrors that men, women, and children had to suffer while being tortured in those camps, but can you imagine being pregnant at the same time. No energy. Cravings. Sickness. Trying to eat enough good food to keep your baby alive. Those are hard enough for mothers in the modern age. Let alone be in a concentration camp where they are trying to kill you. Tolsma does a wonderful job at creating a storyline that tugs at the heart of the reader and makes them empathize with Noemie. Every World War II story that I have read does show a new level of the disgust and hatred of the German Nazi’s. At least, in Tolsma story, there was not a lot of cringe-worthy moments. A safe, yet unique story. The plot features a modern young lady who through she wanted her life to go way, but through the help of another character, she realizes maybe that is not where God wants her to go with her life. A touch of romance. A surprise yet fulfilling ending to the story. Overall, What I Promise You by Liz Tolsma showed another element of World War II that I was not familiar with, but at times, the story does move quite slowly for my taste.

I received a complimentary copy of What I Promise You by Liz Tolsma from Barbour Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

This is a book that explores three timelines simultaneously...

1942, 1955, and 2023

We get to live the life of Noeme who is a Jew living in southern France during Vichy rule in France. We immediately see her taken prisoner with her husband and sent to a prison camp. She's pregnant and worries about what will happen to her unborn baby. Promising she will NEVER leave Levi. And he asks her to PROMISE him to take care of their baby no matter what.

What follows in the book is what happens next regarding those promises as Noeme escapes to a maternity house nearby...

1955 we are in first person narrative. An unknown person who is visiting the maternity home 13 years later. We are given hints of what will happen in Noeme's story through the things mentioned here. Mentions of horror and happiness. Of pain and of joy. Discussions and foreboding of the imminent pain.

2023 back to third person with Caitlyn Laurent. Caitlyn is a nurse suffering from PTSD after a car accident she was in which killed her best friend. To get away from it all and live out the dream she and her friend had, she decides to go to France to become a missionary nurse to Africa. While there she also hopes to pop into the maternity home her grandfather Pops recalls being born in and living at for a short time. But things happen in France to change Caitlyn's life forever in ways she never imagined...

The author does a great job in weaving these three perspectives together. Each of them adds a little bit more to the story and then finally like an onion everything peels back to the heart in the last four chapters. The mysterious person in 1955 is revealed. The connection to 2023 Caitlyn is revealed. And Noeme's story concludes.

I think that the story was well done. It touches on the the horrors of the prison camps from the view of pregnant women or women with infants. I think there were many excellent quotes about faith--Especially for Caitlyn who holds herself responsible for something she had no control over.

4 Stars

*I was given a complimentary copy of an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review and alllll these opinions are totally me.

This is a tri-timeline story. In 1942, Noemie Treves and her husband are rounded up by the Nazis because they are Jewish. She is expecting, and is haunted by an event she believes she could have changed. She is smuggled out of the camp to a maternity hospital in southwest France.
In 1955, someone visits the abandoned hospital and reminisces about those who lived there during the war, the fear, those who were taken, what could have been. Not until the end will you know for sure who is narrating this timeline.
In 2022, Caitlyn Laurent takes a missionary training course in Spain and visits the hospital to learn more about where her grandfather was born in 1942. She is plagued by the recent death of her best friend, with whom she was supposed to share the adventure.
A lot of the book is introspective and expository. At times I skimmed through. Fellow student Aiden brings a spark of life to the story.