The Promise by Lesley Pearse - Revision history

Sue at 09:27, 22 March 2018

2018-03-22T09:27:06Z

Sue at 11:59, 27 July 2015

2015-07-27T11:59:20Z

Sue at 11:54, 7 January 2015

2015-01-07T11:54:53Z

Sue at 15:01, 13 June 2012

2012-06-13T15:01:54Z

Sue at 14:27, 2 December 2011

2011-12-02T14:27:45Z

Sue at 14:27, 2 December 2011

2011-12-02T14:27:12Z

Sue: Created page with '{{infobox |title=The Promise |sort=Promise |author=Lesley Pearse |reviewer=Susmita Chatto |genre=Historical Fiction |rating=4 |buy=Yes |borrow=Yes |isbn=978-0718157043 |paperbac…'

2011-12-02T14:26:16Z

Created page with '{{infobox |title=The Promise |sort=Promise |author=Lesley Pearse |reviewer=Susmita Chatto |genre=Historical Fiction |rating=4 |buy=Yes |borrow=Yes |isbn=978-0718157043 |paperbac…'

New review

{{infobox
|title=The Promise
|sort=Promise
|author=Lesley Pearse
|reviewer=Susmita Chatto
|genre=Historical Fiction
|rating=4
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-0718157043
|paperback=
|hardback=0718157044
|audiobook=
|ebook=B006C3MDRW
|pages=528
|publisher=Michael Joseph
|date=January 2012
|amazonuk=<amazonuk0718157044</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>0718157044</amazonus>
|website=
|video=
|summary=The story of a woman whose path in life is dramatically altered by war, and by her past coming back to haunt her.
}}

Belle has a lovely London life, a good career and a happy marriage. But she has a murky past, and although it’s shaped her kind heart and character, it isn’t something she wants to come face to face with again. But some people are not able to forget the past, for reasons good and bad, and against the dramatic backdrop of the Great War, Belle is about to come face to face with all sorts of things she thought she had forgotten.

Pearse plunges right into her 20th novel, getting to the key points rapidly. Her clarity of style is evident from the start; she doesn’t waste words and writes so fluidly that you’ll find yourself ploughing through the pages.

Her Dulwich setting brings the London of the novel to life very rapidly; it’s easy to picture Belle and to place her within the context of her life and her marriage. I hadn’t read the previous novel but Belle came together with remarkable rapidity in my mind, with an incident at the start that demonstrates her kind-heartedness immediately.

The gloom of impending war can be felt and the early notion that it would ''all be over by Christmas'' is all the more poignant as the horrors of war unravel. Pearse looks in detail at the effect of wartime propaganda on the public psyche and weaves in the historical background with ease. Belle’s nearest and dearest are carefully drawn and the complex relationships between them are made easy to understand by clear and skilful storytelling.

Doing justice to a period which involves a great deal of change, joy and heartbreak in equal measure is no mean feat. Pearse provides a cracking pace which mirrors the rapidity of change in Belle’s life as this new and complicated chapter of her life unfolds. All the characters in this novel are fully rounded and it’s easy to relate to them and even to like them when they are doing unlikeable things.

All in all, a great read with a wonderful central character.

If this book appeals then you might enjoy [[Belle by Lesley Pearse|Belle]], also by Lelley Pearse.

{{amazontext|amazon=0718157044}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=}}

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← Older revision		Revision as of 11:59, 27 July 2015
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	If this book appeals then you might enjoy [[Belle by Lesley Pearse\|Belle]], also by Lesley Pearse.		If this book appeals then you might enjoy [[Belle by Lesley Pearse\|Belle]], also by Lesley Pearse.
		+
		+	[[Lesley Pearse's Novels in Chronological Order]]

	{{amazontext\|amazon=0241950376}}		{{amazontext\|amazon=0241950376}}

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 |borrow=Yes
 |isbn=978-0718157043
 |pages=528
 |publisher=Michael Joseph
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 If this book appeals then you might enjoy [[Belle by Lesley Pearse|Belle]], also by Lesley Pearse.
 {{amazontext|amazon=0241950376}}
-{{amazontext|amazon=0241950376}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=8663081}}
+{{amazonUStext|amazon=B006C3MDRW}}
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-{{infobox
+{{infobox1
 |title=The Promise
 |sort=Promise
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 |publisher=Michael Joseph
 |date=January 2012
 |summary=The story of a woman whose path in life is dramatically altered by war, and by her past coming back to haunt her.
 }}

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 |borrow=Yes
 |isbn=978-0718157043
-|paperback=
+|paperback=0241950376
 |hardback=0718157044
 |audiobook=
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 |publisher=Michael Joseph
 |date=January 2012
-|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718157044</amazonuk>
+|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241950376</amazonuk>
 |amazonus=<amazonus>B006C3MDRW</amazonus>
 |website=
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-{{amazontext|amazon=0718157044}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=8663081}}
+{{amazontext|amazon=0241950376}} {{waterstonestext|waterstones=8663081}}
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