This is a dual timeline story about heartbreak, family dynamics and love. It’s wartime and Clare works for the BBC when one night she finds herself in a situation where she is taken advantage of and that leaves her pregnant. Her parents are disappointed’ and seem more concerned about what the neighbours will think and it is agreed that she will move to Scotland to live with her childless sister Anne. Baby Mirren is born and then Clare is given the opportunity to become a map maker and help with the war. She makes the heartbreaking decision to go. Knowing her daughter is in safe hands, and although she enjoys the work, she struggles with coming to terms with it all. Mirren has very few memories of her mother Clare who is not spoken about. Now she has her own daughter she struggles even more to understand who her mother was, why she chose to leave her and why she never visited.
Beautifully written and very emotional this covers all the different reactions and feelings of each character from Clare and Mirren to her parents and other family members.

Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for the ARC

A beautifully written story which tugged at the heart strings. Set during WW2 it tells the story of a young woman who finds herself pregnant and is sent away by her family. Sad but, also lovely. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

It is the beginning of WWII and Clare a young 19 year old is taken advantage of by her boss at the BBC. She falls pregnant and her conservative parents can’t cope with the shame. Clare’s sister is 10 years older than her and lives in the Scottish highlands which is where Clare goes to have her baby, Mirren. Clare struggles with being a mother and leaves her child with her sister with a promise she will return to take care of her child.
Clare is offered a job as a mapmaker and it is many years later that she tries to establish a relationship with her child.
The story alternates between Clare’s life before, during and after the pregnancy which encompasses the war years and her work as a mapmaker; and that, of Mirren who struggles with the belief her biological mother abandoned her.
I enjoyed the book but it did end abruptly so hoping there is a sequel to complete the story of Clare and Mirren.

Set in wartime London, this story is about the life of nineteen-year-old Clare, whose decision to escape the threat of an air raid brings her face to face with her own trauma.
The novel explores Clare's struggles as she struggles with the devastating effects of war.
I loved Clare’s character development.
The difficult themes of trauma, guilt, and redemption was well written.
This story was a beautifully written. And was a historical fiction with emotional depth. Clare's story was a story about the strength of the human spirit.

The Map Maker’s Promise covers an intriguing mix of topics such as the challenges of motherhood, the burden of mistakes, the pain of violations and the fear of choices to name a few. And yes, the terrible effects of WW2 on personal lives and the sacrifices of those who tried to fight back by entering the domain of various secret services. For protagonist Clare, becoming a map maker for Bomber Command gave her a focus but it separated her from her family. And she struggled with the killing part of the operation which added even more guilt to her already overburdened conscience.

When Clare was nineteen and working in a BBC office, she fell to the wiles of her boss, which led to a violation. Her parents were not supportive in helping her after the devastating event. Because she kept secret what really happened, they assumed the fault was with her. And when the encounter resulted in a pregnancy, they were more concerned with what their neighbours thought than making sure their daughter was okay. Clare then decided to move away to her sister’s home in The Highlands where she could sort out her life and give birth to her daughter. But her troubles did not end there. In fact, the stresses of motherhood were more than she could bear. She was haunted by what had happened to her and afraid of the man who violated her. Suffering in silence she felt lost and about to make a regrettable choice. But is rescued by a local fellow named Cal McGinnis: ‘the man with white hair who ran the post office at Foyers.’ Yet again, disappointment in herself continued to grow and it seemed she would never be free to live a normal life. When she is offered a job to work as a map maker, she grasps onto it while making a promise to return for her daughter when the war is over. But when that day comes, things do not go as planned.

In the second timeline, we see Clare’s daughter, Mirren, fully grown and married and with a daughter of her own. She never quite feels like she belongs and cannot understand why her mother left her as an infant. Or why when Clare comes home to get her after she has settled with her new husband, that she is left behind again. Of course, we get the backstory from Clare of what happened to bring about the change of plans. But Mirren spends much of her life trying to understand and process what she thinks is rejection. In time, events transpire that provide her with some information— including letters from her mother to a friend that end up in her possession. The conclusion is quite revealing when she says she is not ‘lost’ anymore. Which brings us full circle if we go back to the Prologue (which I did) and re-read it. When she was a child riding in Cal’s car, he tells her if she ever gets ‘lost’ to remember she lives in ‘the last house on the lochan’. At the time she could not understand why he said that. But much later in her life she finally understands and she reconnects with the land that adopted her and reconnects with her husband. Plus she remembers the experience with the deer and how it compares to her mother. This realisation frees her.

Because the conclusion at first seemed abrupt, I went back to the beginning and re-read the Prologue. And I found so much more by doing so. I think you need to do this to get the full meaning of the ending. As there are many little words or hints in the Prologue that are also dotted throughout the novel that when joined together give this story added meaning and magnitude. There is so much more here below the surface than what initially appears. It is like looking into the Loch and seeing past surface reflections. When peering into the depth of the waters, there is another world hidden from view. Much like a person’s heart filled with secrets and fears. And Clare’s heart was much like this. Shaped by environment, expectations, family and tragedies. Broken and unable to trust or believe or maintain hope.

A big part of this story is the Highland setting. It is a character itself and stunningly portrayed with all its beauty and fierceness. Nature has its own order and wildness which is in contrast to Clare’s life that is filled with disharmony and unnaturalness. Ms Law uses this tool well to show us the discord in humans but how the environment can provide restoration and balance. And she painted such a vivid picture of the Highlands that I felt transported there! The Map Maker’s Promise initially exhibits a lot of sadness and pain but it also evolves into a landscape of healing and hope. Highly recommend. 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

Written during ww2, you have the story of Clare a map maker.

A single lady, pregnant with her child, Clare makes her way to remote Scotland where she leaves her daughter for her sister and heads backbto London to act as a mapmaker.. The historical details around how maps were created to target the Germans was interesting.

In another timeline you see the growth of clares daughter Mirrin.

A poignant war story, that talks about emotional struggles of being a single mother during the war and choices to be made.

The heart stoping and sad story of a young woman who was taken advantage of, become a single mother, and joined the war effort. Most of the story focuses on Clare’s pregnancy and struggles with glimpses into 1985 and Mirrin as an adult.

Catherine Law takes a moment in time and turns it into a powerful and poignant chain of events that changes the lives of everyone involved.

I liked the well-researched details of top-secret work at Benjamin Disraeli's former home, Hughenden Manor (code named "Hillside") where the Air Ministry staff analysed aerial photography of Germany and created maps for bombing missions,

The calm peace of remote Scotland provides a perfect counterpoint to war-torn London, as Clare struggles to cope with the secrets and consequences of her past. The events of The Map Maker's Promise serve as a reminder of how badly women were treated in our relatively recent history, and the ending is a masterclass in great storytelling.

Good read tho thought that it ended very abruptly with much more of the story to be told. Maybe there is going to be a sequel to this tale.
Clare is a young naive girl out in the work of work at the BBC at the start of ww2, she falls prey to her boss and ends up pregnant. She goes away to her site in the highlands of Scotland to have her baby
Clare finds motherhood difficult and leaves her baby with her sister to bring up while she goes and does more secret war work.
The book floats between Clare’s story during her war years and her child’s story as she grows up.
Well written