Lesley Pearse's The Promise: Your reviews

Members of iVillage.co.uk review Lesley Pearse's new novel, The Promise. Set during World War I, it tells the story of Belle, who must choose between two men as her past comes back to haunt her and she faces difficult decisions.

Lesley will be on iVillage on Friday January 20th to answer your questions. See here

Spoiler alert: These reviews contain details of the book's plot.

Wow!

- ''Wow' is a word I don't often use when describing a book, but is perfect for this one. The story is so well written I felt like I was really there and struggled to put the book down as it was such a good read.

'I was on the edge of my seat when she was attacked and cried when she lost her baby, it struck such a cord and the way the story was portrayed was excellent, just the right balance of emotion and would ring so true with any angel mum's.

'The telling of the time in France was also perfect and you were left guessing as to what would happen next there was no predictability to what was going to happen and that kept me hooked.

'I will definitely be reading it again to catch the bits I may have missed and although I know the story I am looking forward to reading the book again and I'll definitely be looking for other books by Lesley to read when I am next at the library.

'Overall a wonderful book that would be enjoyed by so many people.'

cl-pippa-j

A fascinating story

 - 'The Promise follows on from Belle, and continues her story in wartime London. Things seem to be going well for Belle and Mog, yet tragedy is only ever just around the corner… 

'This is a fascinating story about two strong women and the pressures that they face. Touching on social class and status, the horrors of war for both men and women and above all, deep love, throughout it all I was willing them both good luck and a happy ending.

What I really liked was that Lesley Pearse wasn’t scared to kill or maim key characters in the story, giving it an air of realism which often is missing from romantic fiction. She has clearly done much research into the history of the First World War and it shows in the details that are worked into the story. Having said that, it was not so gritty that I couldn’t just curl up and enjoy a little bit of escapism!

'My only criticism would be that there were a lot of references to the previous book, and while they didn’t spoil the story, sometimes it did interrupt the flow of the writing, as Pearse was clearly trying to ensure that the reader didn’t need to have read that book first. I haven’t read Belle, and at times I wish I had as I think it would add to my feeling for the characters, but then I wonder if the background given here would have annoyed me more! If you like romantic fiction with a bit of excitement and history thrown in on the way to a very happy ending, this would be a good choice.'

manic_curls

Highly readable

- ‘I’ve never read any of Lesley Pearse’s previous books so started The Promise with an open mind.  The book is set in an era that holds a great deal of interest for me, the age of discovery and the start of female equality.  Reading the first few chapters made me wish I’d read the earlier books, although it was explained what had happen the main character, Belle, had such an interesting and exciting time before that I wished I knew it in more intimate detail. 

'The name Belle evoked a Disneyesque image, although having a three year old and watching Beauty and the Beast countless times probably helps - although the description of the Belle does not fall far short.  The male characters are polar opposites of each other: Jimmy, the red-headed English man, stable, reliable and utterly English; Etienne, the suave French man with a dark past, unlike his hair which was blonde unfortunately, and not how I wanted to imagine him.

'The story starts with Belle leading a respectable life during the lead up to the First World War, in a small village near London she has become a milliner and is married to Jimmy.  She becomes friends with an upper class lady, Miranda, and they become fast friends.  Belle becomes pregnant and Jimmy goes off to fight in France, when tragedy strikes and Belle is robbed whilst in her shop, losing her baby.  Belle’s whole life is ripped apart and she decides to go to France to become an ambulance driver with Miranda.  Belle’s story continues in France where the two men in her life meet and she has to come face to face with her true feelings, as more tragedy strikes and she has to make a choice about which man she wants to remain with.

'I have to say although the book was highly readable I also found it very predictable.  As I was reading the story I knew what would be happening next or where a plot line would tie in.  It was, quite frankly, obvious throughout.   For me this put a dampener on the whole thing really. 

'If I was to give it a mark out of five I would say three out of five.  It was enjoyable, easy to read, just a shame that I knew how it would end way before I’d read it.'

cl-shy_dragonfly

Story kept me captivated

- 'Belle's journey was a tough one; starting just before World War I, this book told of the things she had to cope with, doing her bit for the war, her wounded husband, death, emigrating and will it be the 'happy ever after'?

'This story kept me captivated by what was going to happen next and at times found it hard to put it down. You can use all of your emotions reading this book, it’s a must read.'

mumjane

Descriptions were excellent

- 'I found the book a bit like the curate's egg - Good in parts!

'The story itself had the potential to be a gripping and interesting read; however the characters are one dimensional. Therefore I never felt there was chance to feel deeply for them - no matter what happened to them along the way.

'Having said that, the descriptions of life on the battlefield and hospitals on the First World War Front were excellent, so the author had obviously done her research there.

'All in all this is the kind of book that has a decent story line, but will not challenge you too intellectually - in fact ideal chick-lit! A good holiday read.

'As a postscript - it is probably a good idea to read the first book in the series " Belle" to understand the background of the heroine.'

cl-helenbev

Well-written book

- 'The book is well written, with good descriptive detail, both about characters and places. The first world war descriptions were very well done, especially if you have some previous knowledge of that war. Nine of my uncles were killed in it. I feel that Lesley had done her research into this extremely well. I did find much of it very unsettling, partly because although this is fiction much of it depicts the reality of that time. All the futility of sending men to certain death gives me nightmares at the best of times.  The suspense aspect was held throughout until the last chapter when she and Etienne were together at last. (It will be interesting to see if Lesley takes these characters through further into the 20th century).

'Would I have chosen to read this book if not reviewing it? With my hatred of all the gory details of any war stories, possibly not. The romance aspect throughout I enjoyed, although again, this was filled with a great deal of sadness as well as joy. My visualisation of the scene when the train hit the ambulance sent a chill down my spine. I would have liked a wedding!

'I wish I had read Belle first as it would have given me a better understanding of the characters and history alluded to in the first few chapters. Belle’s past coming back to haunt her all the time would have been easier to understand for me if I had read Belle.

'I wish I could write as well as this.'

cl-ancarra

• For a chance to get a free copy of The Promise, join our webchat with Lesley Pearse on Friday January 2oth at 12 noon,

• To order your copy of The Promise, visit amazon.co.uk