The Promise

'Outstanding . . . The Promise by Ann Weisgarber is set in Texas in 1900 and follows the story of a young pianist who arrives from the sophisticated east coast to make a hasty marriage to a widower. The story of their tentative relationship in the oppressive Texan heat is engrossing, and the final pages are profoundly moving.Kirsty Wark, Sunday Express

On Saturday 8 September 1900, Galveston, Texas, the island city in the Gulf of Mexico, then one of the largest ports in America, was devastated by a hurricane. It was the worst US natural disaster of the 20th century, with a death toll of 8,000 people. Present-day Galveston resident and Orange Prize longlistee Ann Weisgarber's novel comes to a head in the eye of this storm, the emotional battles between the members of one Galveston Island family played out against the backdrop of howling wind and rain, and the steady rush of flood water . . . The narration is split between Catherine and Nan, Weisgarber doing an admirable job in distinguishing between the two, the voice of each ringing out clearly. So, too, her description of the storm itself is wonderfully atmospheric, the fear of her protagonists mounting minute by minute, the tension as thick as the heavy Texan summer air. Combine this with heartbreaking historical details and you have the perfect ingredients for vintage historical fiction.Independent

‘A gripping, beautiful story of loyalties and hidden loves. Ann Weisgarber's pitch-perfect characters will break your heart and keep you guessing right to the very end’ Carol Rifka Brunt, New York Times bestselling author of Tell The Wolves I’m Home

‘Set against the worst natural disaster in twentieth century American history, The Promise is a riveting tale, told in lean luminous prose, of the power of love and the frailty of the human condition. Weisgarber knows storms, those that devastate the land and those that rage in the human heart. Her characters will live in your imagination long after you’ve turned the last deeply moving page’ Ellen Feldman, author of Next to Love and Scottsboro