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The Promise
From the author of The Personal History of Rachel Dupree, shortlisted for the Orange Award for New Writers and longlisted for the Orange Prize.
1900. Young pianist Catherine Wainwright flees the fashionable town of Dayton, Ohio in the wake of a terrible scandal. Heartbroken and facing destitution, she finds herself striking up correspondence with a childhood admirer, the recently widowed Oscar Williams. In desperation she agrees to marry him, but when Catherine travels to Oscar's farm on Galveston Island, Texas—a thousand miles from home—she finds she is little prepared for the life that awaits her. The island is remote, the weather sweltering, and Oscar's little boy Andre is grieving hard for his lost mother. And though Oscar tries to please his new wife, the secrets of the past sit uncomfortably between them. Meanwhile for Nan Ogden, Oscar’s housekeeper, Catherine’s sudden arrival has come as a great shock. For not only did she promise Oscar’s first wife that she would be the one to take care of little Andre, but she has feelings for Oscar which she is struggling to suppress. And when the worst storm in a generation descends, the women will find themselves tested as never before.
1900. Young pianist Catherine Wainwright flees the fashionable town of Dayton, Ohio in the wake of a terrible scandal. Heartbroken and facing destitution, she finds herself striking up correspondence with a childhood admirer, the recently widowed Oscar Williams. In desperation she agrees to marry him, but when Catherine travels to Oscar's farm on Galveston Island, Texas—a thousand miles from home—she finds she is little prepared for the life that awaits her. The island is remote, the weather sweltering, and Oscar's little boy Andre is grieving hard for his lost mother. And though Oscar tries to please his new wife, the secrets of the past sit uncomfortably between them. Meanwhile for Nan Ogden, Oscar’s housekeeper, Catherine’s sudden arrival has come as a great shock. For not only did she promise Oscar’s first wife that she would be the one to take care of little Andre, but she has feelings for Oscar which she is struggling to suppress. And when the worst storm in a generation descends, the women will find themselves tested as never before.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published March 14, 2013
710 people are currently reading
4815 people want to read
About the author
Ann Weisgarber
4 books311 followersAnn is the author of "The Glovemaker," "The Promise," and "The Personal History of Rachel DuPree." She was nominated for the UK's Orange Prize, the Orange Award for New Writers, and the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. In the United States, she won the Stephen Turner Award for New Fiction and the Langum Prize for American Historical Fiction. She was shortlisted for the Ohioana Book Award and was a Barnes and Noble Discover New Writer. Ann was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters.
Ann's latest novel, "The Glovemaker" is set in Utah's canyon country during the winter of 1888. This is a change from her second novel, "The Promise," which takes place in Galveston, Texas -- where Ann lives -- during the historic 1900 Storm that killed thousands. Just to keep things interesting, her debut novel, "The Personal History of Rachel DuPree," takes readers to the South Dakota Badlands during 1917.
She was born in Kettering, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. She graduated from Wright State University in Dayton with a BA in Social Work and earned a MA in Sociology from the University of Houston. She has been a social worker in psychiatric and nursing home facilities, and taught sociology at Wharton County Junior College in Texas.
In addition to Ohio and Texas, Ann has lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Des Moines, Iowa. She lives in Galveston, Texas, where she's working on a novel about a World War II German POW camp in Hearne, Texas.
Ann's latest novel, "The Glovemaker" is set in Utah's canyon country during the winter of 1888. This is a change from her second novel, "The Promise," which takes place in Galveston, Texas -- where Ann lives -- during the historic 1900 Storm that killed thousands. Just to keep things interesting, her debut novel, "The Personal History of Rachel DuPree," takes readers to the South Dakota Badlands during 1917.
She was born in Kettering, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. She graduated from Wright State University in Dayton with a BA in Social Work and earned a MA in Sociology from the University of Houston. She has been a social worker in psychiatric and nursing home facilities, and taught sociology at Wharton County Junior College in Texas.
In addition to Ohio and Texas, Ann has lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Des Moines, Iowa. She lives in Galveston, Texas, where she's working on a novel about a World War II German POW camp in Hearne, Texas.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 786 reviews
April 30, 2015
Ann Weisgarber excels at depicting the inner lives of people living through difficult historical times. She writes with a graceful simplicity that lays bare the natural beauty of the landscape and her characters' turbulent emotions. I found The Promise to be an even more engrossing read than her first novel, The Personal History of Rachel DuPree.
In Dayton, Ohio, in 1900, 29-year-old Catherine Wainwright re-establishes a correspondence with an old friend, Oscar Williams, after her affair with her cousin's husband comes to light and brings shame upon her and her family. Oscar had used to deliver coal as a boy, but now he's a prosperous dairy farmer on Galveston Island down in Texas, a recent widower with a 5-year-old son, Andre.
Catherine, a talented pianist from a wealthy family, had never considered him as a suitor before, but now, she relates, "he was the only person whose letter was not cold or indifferent." When he offers marriage, which she both hoped for and was resigned to, she boards a southbound train in desperation, leaving her creditors behind.
The Promise smoothly alternates between the perspectives of Catherine, forced to adjust to more rustic circumstances and to marriage and a stepchild, and Nan Ogden, the younger woman who works as Oscar's housekeeper, having promised his late wife, her friend Bernadette, to take care of Andre. Nan secretly loves Oscar and is devastated he chose someone so different from her as his bride.
Through the women's narratives, the novel movingly depicts the loneliness of an outsider. Both are vulnerable in different ways. Not knowing how to cook, and unused to her new home's isolation and steamy climate, Catherine must depend on Nan to take care of her household. And Nan, despite her strong-willed nature, must stand by and say nothing as Catherine grows close to both Oscar and Andre. Both their voices feel authentic, Catherine's formality and perfect diction contrasting with Nan's easy knowledge of island life and her south Texas drawl.
A third woman plays a major role in the story, too. Bernadette only appears in flashbacks, but her presence comes alive on the page nonetheless. Ann Weisgarber creates such a compelling back story for her, a Louisiana Cajun who overcame a shameful background and enjoyed a loving marriage only to die young, that it makes you realize both how unfair and how precious life is.
The Williams home is built on a ridge, and on 8-foot stilts besides, but it, too, like everything else on Galveston Island, becomes vulnerable as a mammoth storm appears off the coast. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 was America's most devastating natural disaster, with terrible loss of life and property. While I turned the pages rapidly, anxious to see how things turned out, I had to put the book down several times, fearful that characters I'd come to care about might be hurt.
Rich in description and emotion, The Promise is highly recommended for admirers of character-centered historical novels. It was a deserving finalist for the 2014 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.
In Dayton, Ohio, in 1900, 29-year-old Catherine Wainwright re-establishes a correspondence with an old friend, Oscar Williams, after her affair with her cousin's husband comes to light and brings shame upon her and her family. Oscar had used to deliver coal as a boy, but now he's a prosperous dairy farmer on Galveston Island down in Texas, a recent widower with a 5-year-old son, Andre.
Catherine, a talented pianist from a wealthy family, had never considered him as a suitor before, but now, she relates, "he was the only person whose letter was not cold or indifferent." When he offers marriage, which she both hoped for and was resigned to, she boards a southbound train in desperation, leaving her creditors behind.
The Promise smoothly alternates between the perspectives of Catherine, forced to adjust to more rustic circumstances and to marriage and a stepchild, and Nan Ogden, the younger woman who works as Oscar's housekeeper, having promised his late wife, her friend Bernadette, to take care of Andre. Nan secretly loves Oscar and is devastated he chose someone so different from her as his bride.
Through the women's narratives, the novel movingly depicts the loneliness of an outsider. Both are vulnerable in different ways. Not knowing how to cook, and unused to her new home's isolation and steamy climate, Catherine must depend on Nan to take care of her household. And Nan, despite her strong-willed nature, must stand by and say nothing as Catherine grows close to both Oscar and Andre. Both their voices feel authentic, Catherine's formality and perfect diction contrasting with Nan's easy knowledge of island life and her south Texas drawl.
A third woman plays a major role in the story, too. Bernadette only appears in flashbacks, but her presence comes alive on the page nonetheless. Ann Weisgarber creates such a compelling back story for her, a Louisiana Cajun who overcame a shameful background and enjoyed a loving marriage only to die young, that it makes you realize both how unfair and how precious life is.
The Williams home is built on a ridge, and on 8-foot stilts besides, but it, too, like everything else on Galveston Island, becomes vulnerable as a mammoth storm appears off the coast. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 was America's most devastating natural disaster, with terrible loss of life and property. While I turned the pages rapidly, anxious to see how things turned out, I had to put the book down several times, fearful that characters I'd come to care about might be hurt.
Rich in description and emotion, The Promise is highly recommended for admirers of character-centered historical novels. It was a deserving finalist for the 2014 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction.
May 27, 2014
3.5 What first attracted me to this novel was the setting, I just love Galveston, Texas. Throw in the hurricane that devastated the city and I just had to read this.
Catherine and Oscar come together in a very unusual way, one fleeing from a scandal and the other, a childhood admirer, whose firs wife had died leaving his 4 year old son, motherless.
What follows is a warm and inviting story as Catherine attempts to get used to a way of life she is not at all used to and Oscar tries to put together a new family. Nan, the woman who cooks and cleans for Oscar and had hopes that he would marry her, is not very welcoming.
The prose if very formal, which is fitting for the time period, the late 1800's and 1900, but did take some time for me to get used to. The reserve at times distanced me from the characters. As the hurricane descends on the island, the tension in the story rises.
A good read, loved the island details and a look into a different way of life. At times this story seemed rushed to me, and I wish the ending had been different, but that is my inner critic rearing its ugly head.
Catherine and Oscar come together in a very unusual way, one fleeing from a scandal and the other, a childhood admirer, whose firs wife had died leaving his 4 year old son, motherless.
What follows is a warm and inviting story as Catherine attempts to get used to a way of life she is not at all used to and Oscar tries to put together a new family. Nan, the woman who cooks and cleans for Oscar and had hopes that he would marry her, is not very welcoming.
The prose if very formal, which is fitting for the time period, the late 1800's and 1900, but did take some time for me to get used to. The reserve at times distanced me from the characters. As the hurricane descends on the island, the tension in the story rises.
A good read, loved the island details and a look into a different way of life. At times this story seemed rushed to me, and I wish the ending had been different, but that is my inner critic rearing its ugly head.
March 15, 2013
Ann Weisgarber's debut novel The Personal History of Rachel Dupree was shortlisted for the Orange Award for New Writers and longlisted for the Orange Prize in 2009. Her second novel The Promise looks like it will attract similar plaudits.
Set in the US in 1900, we are told the story of young pianist Catherine Wainright who is left in desperate circumstances following an inappropriate liaison with a married man. Shunned by the "proper" folk of Dayton, Ohio she grasps at straws in an effort not to be totally "ruined". By reigniting a friendship with a former admirer she manages to rescue her reputation but this requires her moving a thousand miles away to Galveston Island, Texas. Her rescuer, recently widowed dairy farmer Oscar Williams is a quiet, reserved man but he does his utmost to help Catherine settle in.
This is a compelling read peopled with characters who will engage the reader. Catherine sticks out like a sore thumb with her townish ways but you feel for her as she struggles to adjust to reduced circumstances, a stifling climate and a grieving step-son, Andre. Whilst Oscar's housekeeper, Nan Ogden, does not overtly reject the new Mrs Williams she feels unable to give a wholly warm welcome to the newcomer.
I loved the vivid descriptions of the island and you get a very strong sense of the isolation of the islanders, always at the mercy of the elements, both the sweltering sun and the unpredictable waters. Equally prevalent in the story is the theme of music and how it affects people's emotions, creating a spark between Catherine and Oscar, building bridges between Catherine and Andre and, in Nan's case, resurrecting feelings she'd prefer to keep buried.
A powerful, moving story which is sure to garner even more fans for this talented author.
Set in the US in 1900, we are told the story of young pianist Catherine Wainright who is left in desperate circumstances following an inappropriate liaison with a married man. Shunned by the "proper" folk of Dayton, Ohio she grasps at straws in an effort not to be totally "ruined". By reigniting a friendship with a former admirer she manages to rescue her reputation but this requires her moving a thousand miles away to Galveston Island, Texas. Her rescuer, recently widowed dairy farmer Oscar Williams is a quiet, reserved man but he does his utmost to help Catherine settle in.
This is a compelling read peopled with characters who will engage the reader. Catherine sticks out like a sore thumb with her townish ways but you feel for her as she struggles to adjust to reduced circumstances, a stifling climate and a grieving step-son, Andre. Whilst Oscar's housekeeper, Nan Ogden, does not overtly reject the new Mrs Williams she feels unable to give a wholly warm welcome to the newcomer.
I loved the vivid descriptions of the island and you get a very strong sense of the isolation of the islanders, always at the mercy of the elements, both the sweltering sun and the unpredictable waters. Equally prevalent in the story is the theme of music and how it affects people's emotions, creating a spark between Catherine and Oscar, building bridges between Catherine and Andre and, in Nan's case, resurrecting feelings she'd prefer to keep buried.
A powerful, moving story which is sure to garner even more fans for this talented author.
July 1, 2013
A powerful, touching, wise and beautifully executed book! There is so much below the surface of this story of two women's love for the same man set against the devastating Galveston hurricane of 1900. This book is about forgiveness--of self, of others, of fate--and its redemptive power. Ann Weisgarber is a masterful writer who plumbs the truths of the human condition while enthralling readers with a tension-filled tale of characters caught in circumstances beyond their control. Her books offer a hope-filled vision of humanity that is missing from so many modern works. I loved THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF RACHEL DUPREE, but THE PROMISE simply blew me away. If you read one book this year, make it this one.
May 22, 2015
4.5 stars!
My 1st book by this author. I have her other novel, The Personal History Of Rachel DuPree, & look forward to reading it soon.
My friend, Trudy and I did a buddy read on this, & we both loved the story. It is about a young woman who is scorned by her community for an affair she had with a married man. Back in 1900, being married before the old age of 30 was crucial. She leaves Ohio to reunite with her childhood friend, Oscar, who is recently widowed with a young son. Catherine is a city girl, completely unaware of how to raise a child & tend a home in the country. Oscar has a housekeeper named Nan who loves his little boy, Andre, and struggles watching the sparks between Oscar & Catherine.
The hurricane of Sept. 1900 is an actual event, and this horrific storm took the lives of many.
I highly recommend this wonderful book!
Thank you to Trudy, who recommended it, and read it with me!!
My 1st book by this author. I have her other novel, The Personal History Of Rachel DuPree, & look forward to reading it soon.
My friend, Trudy and I did a buddy read on this, & we both loved the story. It is about a young woman who is scorned by her community for an affair she had with a married man. Back in 1900, being married before the old age of 30 was crucial. She leaves Ohio to reunite with her childhood friend, Oscar, who is recently widowed with a young son. Catherine is a city girl, completely unaware of how to raise a child & tend a home in the country. Oscar has a housekeeper named Nan who loves his little boy, Andre, and struggles watching the sparks between Oscar & Catherine.
The hurricane of Sept. 1900 is an actual event, and this horrific storm took the lives of many.
I highly recommend this wonderful book!
Thank you to Trudy, who recommended it, and read it with me!!
February 29, 2016
I liked this book, but I thought it was very slow. I thought it would be interesting to read about the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, and I liked the story that went with it, but I could have put it down at any point, and never picked it back up. It wasn't until the last 50 pages, that the book got good. I am giving it 3 1/2 stars only because of the page turning ending, otherwise I would give it a 3.
December 31, 2016
The deadliest hurricane in U.S. history made landfall on Galveston Island, Texas and the surrounding area in 1900. It destroyed the island and killed thousands of people. The author cleverly uses this horrific storm as the background for the story of Catherine and Oscar.
Catherine lives in Dayton Ohio and is an accomplished pianist who’s only source of income is from her students. When the community hears of her romantic scandal with a married man the parents take their children out of her school which takes away her livelihood. In desperation, she writes to a previous admirer, Oscar, who has moved to Galveston to become a farmer. Oscar’s wife has recently died and he needs a wife and a mother for his young son. When Oscar proposes to her she is grateful for the chance to get away from Ohio. She accepts his offer and takes a train south. Little does she know she will walk into a completely different culture where she doesn’t fit in. The heat, flies and a standoffish housekeeper nearly drive her mad. She starts to adjust to the environment and the threat of bad weather approaches as Oscar and Catherine begin to fall in love.
The story was told in alternating voices between Catherine and Nan, the housekeeper. As I was drawn into the story I was immediately engaged with the compelling characters. Their story is simple but rich with emotion. My heart went out to every one of the characters and their plight in life. This is a rare time that I think a book should be longer rather than shorter so that the author would have been able to strengthen the relationship of Catherine and Oscar. I for one would like to see this novel made into a movie!
Catherine lives in Dayton Ohio and is an accomplished pianist who’s only source of income is from her students. When the community hears of her romantic scandal with a married man the parents take their children out of her school which takes away her livelihood. In desperation, she writes to a previous admirer, Oscar, who has moved to Galveston to become a farmer. Oscar’s wife has recently died and he needs a wife and a mother for his young son. When Oscar proposes to her she is grateful for the chance to get away from Ohio. She accepts his offer and takes a train south. Little does she know she will walk into a completely different culture where she doesn’t fit in. The heat, flies and a standoffish housekeeper nearly drive her mad. She starts to adjust to the environment and the threat of bad weather approaches as Oscar and Catherine begin to fall in love.
The story was told in alternating voices between Catherine and Nan, the housekeeper. As I was drawn into the story I was immediately engaged with the compelling characters. Their story is simple but rich with emotion. My heart went out to every one of the characters and their plight in life. This is a rare time that I think a book should be longer rather than shorter so that the author would have been able to strengthen the relationship of Catherine and Oscar. I for one would like to see this novel made into a movie!
May 2, 2014
In 1900 young Catherine is disgraced after having an affair with a married man. Fearing there is nothing left to live for and trying to make contact with anyone she can, she writes a letter to a young childhood love, Oscar. Unbeknowst to her, Oscar recently lost his wife from malaria and he is left with the task of raising his little boy. They correspond for a short while and then he proposes. Catherine accepts and move to hot Galvaston.
This book has the makings to be a 5 star novel and that is what I was going to give it at one point. It is written very well, her descriptons of the hot, hot Texas weather will make you long for snow. I couldn't put the book down, the characters were so alive and relatable. The story was interesting, the interactions between Catherine, Oscar, his son Andre and the housekeeper Nan are movie worthy. Catherine captivated everyone with her beautiful piano music, even frightened Andre and distant Nan.
But it all changed for me when the big bad storm came and took its toll. The Galvaston hurricane was a real and tragic event - people died, many of them. I just wish that didn't happen in this book. Oscar would have lived but he went out to the barn to free the cows. Otherwise they would end up scared and would panic and die. Oscar was swept into the mad waters because of his unselfish act. Catherine and Andre had to live out the storm alone in the house. Her so very calm nature gets them through the worst. Afterwards she goes outside, gets bit by twice by the same rattlesnake and dies. Little Andre is left alone again. Really, this was way too sad and depressing for me.
This book has the makings to be a 5 star novel and that is what I was going to give it at one point. It is written very well, her descriptons of the hot, hot Texas weather will make you long for snow. I couldn't put the book down, the characters were so alive and relatable. The story was interesting, the interactions between Catherine, Oscar, his son Andre and the housekeeper Nan are movie worthy. Catherine captivated everyone with her beautiful piano music, even frightened Andre and distant Nan.
But it all changed for me when the big bad storm came and took its toll. The Galvaston hurricane was a real and tragic event - people died, many of them. I just wish that didn't happen in this book. Oscar would have lived but he went out to the barn to free the cows. Otherwise they would end up scared and would panic and die. Oscar was swept into the mad waters because of his unselfish act. Catherine and Andre had to live out the storm alone in the house. Her so very calm nature gets them through the worst. Afterwards she goes outside, gets bit by twice by the same rattlesnake and dies. Little Andre is left alone again. Really, this was way too sad and depressing for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2015
The author uses the famous 1900 hurricane that hit Galveston Island, the deadliest in U. S. history, to anchor her historical tale.
The protagonist is Catherine Wainwright; she is a talented pianist from Dayton, Ohio, whose livelihood dries up in the midst of a romantic scandal. She begins a correspondence with Oscar Williams a Galveston farmer. Oscar is a widowed with a young son.
They get married and Catherine moves to Galveston. She has to learn about housekeeping and to nurture a grief stricken young boy. She clashes with Nan the friend of the first wife. The story has the usual tales of city girl living on a rustic dairy farm on an island.
The book is well written and Weisgarber’s descriptions are fantastic. She brings 1900 Galveston to life. The characters are finely drawn, anchored by a historical event to make a great read. Weisgarber is a talented story teller. This is my first book by this author. I bought it because I had read she won the Orange Award for her prior book. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. Coleen Marlo narrated the book.
The protagonist is Catherine Wainwright; she is a talented pianist from Dayton, Ohio, whose livelihood dries up in the midst of a romantic scandal. She begins a correspondence with Oscar Williams a Galveston farmer. Oscar is a widowed with a young son.
They get married and Catherine moves to Galveston. She has to learn about housekeeping and to nurture a grief stricken young boy. She clashes with Nan the friend of the first wife. The story has the usual tales of city girl living on a rustic dairy farm on an island.
The book is well written and Weisgarber’s descriptions are fantastic. She brings 1900 Galveston to life. The characters are finely drawn, anchored by a historical event to make a great read. Weisgarber is a talented story teller. This is my first book by this author. I bought it because I had read she won the Orange Award for her prior book. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. Coleen Marlo narrated the book.
July 1, 2014
I loved The Personal History of Rachel DuPree and so, was thrilled to get my hands on Ms.Weisgarber's next novel. The writing is, in my opinion, just as flawless, just as tantalizing, in that I was drawn in by the story and the women telling their stories, almost immediately, and could not put it down. A beautiful story about love, and redemption, but...sad, sad, sad. The ending left me disappointed. I found myself imagining how I could of made it end better. But it is nonetheless, a riveting story told in the first person by two women. Women, who at first you don't care much for, but then find yourself rooting for. And of course the handsome, kind, smart, widower Oscar who they both fall in love with, adds to the story. All set in the span of one week in hot, buggy, Texas at the turn of the century with the worst hurricane of the century abrewin'. My 3 star reflects the ending choice only. Overall writing talent and story plot would be a 5-starer.
August 26, 2016
This book would not leave me alone until I finished it. Catherine, Oscar, Nan and Andre were all fully developed characters who each wiggled his way into my heart. Catherine, a renowned pianist from Dayton OH found herself ostracized for a liaison with a married man. With nowhere to turn, she reconnects with Oscar, an old admirer, the man who once delivered coal to her family. She joins Oscar and his son Andre in Galveston Island, TX out of desperation, learning a lot about herself in the process. It is Oscar's patience and quiet gestures of love that allow Catherine to gradually shed her shell.
Andre's mother Bernadette, whose funeral is described as the book opens, is an important character regardless. Nan Ogden, an outspoken, attentive housekeeper, has a lot going on below the surface. One of my favorite scenes is when she picks up her violin and fiddles her heart out. Music is a bridge between personalities and histories throughout the book.
Put these wonderful characters against the backdrop the worst natural disaster of the century, and you have some mighty fine historical fiction. I raced to get to the end of the book to see how "my friends" would fare.
Yet it was not the plot that made me give this book 5 stars. It was definitely the art of the storytelling. There was not one misstep. Each word was carefully chosen to add its piece to the whole. There were no extraneous tangents, just a gentle, sure-footed unfolding of story. I could feel the sweltering heat, the isolation of the landscape, and the tenacity required just to live. There were no overworked descriptions; just a comfortable cadence that pulled this reader right along.
Nan said at one point, "Don't want to talk about it."
Catherine replied, "And so we won't." Some things, I understood, could not bear the weight of words.
How beautiful is that?
Andre's mother Bernadette, whose funeral is described as the book opens, is an important character regardless. Nan Ogden, an outspoken, attentive housekeeper, has a lot going on below the surface. One of my favorite scenes is when she picks up her violin and fiddles her heart out. Music is a bridge between personalities and histories throughout the book.
Put these wonderful characters against the backdrop the worst natural disaster of the century, and you have some mighty fine historical fiction. I raced to get to the end of the book to see how "my friends" would fare.
Yet it was not the plot that made me give this book 5 stars. It was definitely the art of the storytelling. There was not one misstep. Each word was carefully chosen to add its piece to the whole. There were no extraneous tangents, just a gentle, sure-footed unfolding of story. I could feel the sweltering heat, the isolation of the landscape, and the tenacity required just to live. There were no overworked descriptions; just a comfortable cadence that pulled this reader right along.
Nan said at one point, "Don't want to talk about it."
Catherine replied, "And so we won't." Some things, I understood, could not bear the weight of words.
How beautiful is that?
December 12, 2013
I am becoming, more and more, a fan of historical fiction – and Ann Weisgarber is yet another author to thank for this new appreciation. The characterization in this book was something to behold – this being probably one of the best first-person point-of-view stories I’ve read.
I felt I really got to know and respect Nan and Catherine – two very different women with distinct voices and ideals – thrust into one another's lives under the most conflicting of circumstances. The story is based loosely on the Galveston storm in Texas (1900), and those natural disaster chapters are filled with vivid, heart wrenching details that will have your heart racing and your fingers flipping pages.
I felt I really got to know and respect Nan and Catherine – two very different women with distinct voices and ideals – thrust into one another's lives under the most conflicting of circumstances. The story is based loosely on the Galveston storm in Texas (1900), and those natural disaster chapters are filled with vivid, heart wrenching details that will have your heart racing and your fingers flipping pages.
January 26, 2013
I read Ann Weisgarber's first novel The Personal History of Rachel Dupree way back in March 2009 and thought it was really stunning. It went on to be short listed for the Orange Award for New Writers and was on the long list for the Orange Prize UK.
It was with some trepidation that I started to read her second book, The Promise. I wondered how she was going to write something as evocative as her first novel. I started reading The Promise on the train down to London yesterday and I finished it during my return journey. I hardly raised my head once as I was sucked into this intensely moving, sometimes very challenging, but wonderfully easy to read story. I felt as though I had been whisked off to Texas in the early 1900s and once, when I glanced out of the train window, I was actually shocked to see the fields covered in snow - this story really does suck the reader in, and very quickly.
Once again Ann Weisgarber has created a story that centres around extremely strong female characters. Catherine Wainwright, who has fled her home-town in the wake of scandal and Nan Ogden; a down-to-earth, honest farm girl who lives on the outskirts of Galveston. When Catherine realises that she can no longer hold her head up in her home town, she orchestrates a marriage proposal from Oscar Williams. Oscar moved out to Galveston to become a dairy farmer and has recently been widowed and left with a four-year-old son Andre, to care for. Nan Ogden promised Oscar's wife that she would care for Andre. Nan and Catherine are as different as chalk and cheese, yet underneath they are both very strong women, and both struggle against the rules of society.
Life in Galveston is hard for Catherine, the town-folk have never met anyone like her. She bewitches the men and the women suspect her. Nan struggles with her feelings for Oscar, her loyalties to his first wife and her feelings that no one will ever love her. They struggle on together, and it is only when a terrible storm hits the small town that they are tested to their limits.
The characters in The Promise are developed so well, they grow with the story - their flaws and their failings are not glossed over, these are real people, drawn beautifully. The sense of place is what stands out the most for me - the heat, the smells, the sights and the sounds of this bleak and desolate part of Texas. The description of the terror and havoc that the storm brings is vivid.
Galveston really did suffer terribly during the storm of 1900, this is an event that I had no knowledge of and have discovered that although this is a fictional story, some of the people and the places really did exist. This storm was far worse than Hurricane Katrina and ripped the heart out of this small community, killing in the region of 6000 people.
I enjoyed every single page of The Promise, I liked it even more than Rachel Dupree. Ann Weisgarber has proved to me that she is an incredibly talented author whose stories are going from strength to strength.
It was with some trepidation that I started to read her second book, The Promise. I wondered how she was going to write something as evocative as her first novel. I started reading The Promise on the train down to London yesterday and I finished it during my return journey. I hardly raised my head once as I was sucked into this intensely moving, sometimes very challenging, but wonderfully easy to read story. I felt as though I had been whisked off to Texas in the early 1900s and once, when I glanced out of the train window, I was actually shocked to see the fields covered in snow - this story really does suck the reader in, and very quickly.
Once again Ann Weisgarber has created a story that centres around extremely strong female characters. Catherine Wainwright, who has fled her home-town in the wake of scandal and Nan Ogden; a down-to-earth, honest farm girl who lives on the outskirts of Galveston. When Catherine realises that she can no longer hold her head up in her home town, she orchestrates a marriage proposal from Oscar Williams. Oscar moved out to Galveston to become a dairy farmer and has recently been widowed and left with a four-year-old son Andre, to care for. Nan Ogden promised Oscar's wife that she would care for Andre. Nan and Catherine are as different as chalk and cheese, yet underneath they are both very strong women, and both struggle against the rules of society.
Life in Galveston is hard for Catherine, the town-folk have never met anyone like her. She bewitches the men and the women suspect her. Nan struggles with her feelings for Oscar, her loyalties to his first wife and her feelings that no one will ever love her. They struggle on together, and it is only when a terrible storm hits the small town that they are tested to their limits.
The characters in The Promise are developed so well, they grow with the story - their flaws and their failings are not glossed over, these are real people, drawn beautifully. The sense of place is what stands out the most for me - the heat, the smells, the sights and the sounds of this bleak and desolate part of Texas. The description of the terror and havoc that the storm brings is vivid.
Galveston really did suffer terribly during the storm of 1900, this is an event that I had no knowledge of and have discovered that although this is a fictional story, some of the people and the places really did exist. This storm was far worse than Hurricane Katrina and ripped the heart out of this small community, killing in the region of 6000 people.
I enjoyed every single page of The Promise, I liked it even more than Rachel Dupree. Ann Weisgarber has proved to me that she is an incredibly talented author whose stories are going from strength to strength.
June 18, 2013
The story is narrated by two women, both from different worlds but with very strong voices and beliefs. It is 1900. Nan Ogden is a young women living in Galveston and a neighbour of Oscar Williams and a great friend to his late wife Bernadette. Nan promised Oscar’s dying wife that she would look after Andre, their young son. Secretly, she has feelings for Oscar and hopes that one day they might be reciprocated.
Catherine Wainwright, a talented pianist, is around the same age and living in Ohio. As a result of a scandal involving a married man, she is ostracised by her community and penniless. After trying to find someone who will help her, she comes across the name of Oscar Williams, an old school friend who at the time had a crush on her. However Oscar, being the son of a coal merchant was not considered good enough for Catherine – but that was then. Oscar has now done well for himself in the intervening years and has his own smallholding in Galveston.
This was a compelling read, told by two women – one in love with a man and another who made a marriage of convenience. Both women are constrained by the rules of society which dictates how they should dress and behave. Nan is illiterate but knows how to keep a house whereas Catherine is educated but cannot cook a basic meal.
Nan’s jealousy of Catherine comes to the fore and she feels usurped by Catherine’s presence as Oscar’s new wife and it is clear that the two women are too different to be friends. However when a great storm arrives, both women must do whatever they can to survive.
I adored this book and found it a compelling read. It is mainly set over a relatively short time period of just over a week but so much happens in that timeframe. The characters are so well written and events are described with such detail that the reader feels like a bystander and by the end of the story I was near to tears. There is a wonderful sense of place – you can feel the stifling Texan heat and get a real sense of the remote and vast landscape where your nearest neighbour is over a mile away. The storm is based on a true event from 1900 when Galveston was torn to shreds and over 6,000 people lost their lives. I knew nothing of this tragedy before reading the book and was interested enough to find out more.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough and will be keen to read more by this author.
Catherine Wainwright, a talented pianist, is around the same age and living in Ohio. As a result of a scandal involving a married man, she is ostracised by her community and penniless. After trying to find someone who will help her, she comes across the name of Oscar Williams, an old school friend who at the time had a crush on her. However Oscar, being the son of a coal merchant was not considered good enough for Catherine – but that was then. Oscar has now done well for himself in the intervening years and has his own smallholding in Galveston.
This was a compelling read, told by two women – one in love with a man and another who made a marriage of convenience. Both women are constrained by the rules of society which dictates how they should dress and behave. Nan is illiterate but knows how to keep a house whereas Catherine is educated but cannot cook a basic meal.
Nan’s jealousy of Catherine comes to the fore and she feels usurped by Catherine’s presence as Oscar’s new wife and it is clear that the two women are too different to be friends. However when a great storm arrives, both women must do whatever they can to survive.
I adored this book and found it a compelling read. It is mainly set over a relatively short time period of just over a week but so much happens in that timeframe. The characters are so well written and events are described with such detail that the reader feels like a bystander and by the end of the story I was near to tears. There is a wonderful sense of place – you can feel the stifling Texan heat and get a real sense of the remote and vast landscape where your nearest neighbour is over a mile away. The storm is based on a true event from 1900 when Galveston was torn to shreds and over 6,000 people lost their lives. I knew nothing of this tragedy before reading the book and was interested enough to find out more.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough and will be keen to read more by this author.
July 25, 2017
This story had me not wanting to keep reading because I did not want the book to end. It is about three women who live in Galveston, TX in 1900. (the year of the deadly hurricane which was the biggest natural disaster of the 20th century) All three love the same man and his son. A promise is made to the dying mother and first wife by her best friend that may be impossible to keep with the arrival of a second wife. The emotions and inner thoughts of the two surviving women were so real that I felt I knew them. These were conveyed by alternating the narrator of the story between the two women.
The hurricane comes alive by this author. I felt the fear, the horror, the depression and desperation that these women must have endured. The details and descriptions were amazing. This is a brilliant writer. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction and just fantastic literature.
The hurricane comes alive by this author. I felt the fear, the horror, the depression and desperation that these women must have endured. The details and descriptions were amazing. This is a brilliant writer. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction and just fantastic literature.
May 28, 2018
This book started out so promising. the storytelling was brilliant and the characters were great. The setting was described beautifully and the social aspects of the time were spot on. However, the book took a very sad turn which I did not enjoy. I dont want to reveal any spoilers but I will say that I hate it when authors get you to love characters and then end on a tragic note. My reading time is too precious to waste on tragic stories that leave me feeling sad and depressed. If I wanted to feel that way I'd just watch the news. A shame, as I really enjoyed this author's writing style and character development. 5 stars for writing and storytelling, but 1 star for making me care so deeply about these people and then ripping my heart out.
June 5, 2020
Well written, interesting but it didn't quite grabbed my heart like these kind of books do. I enjoyed reading about the hurricane and yet I think that it was event driven rather than focusing more on the characters.
September 5, 2019
This was a very well written book about the 1900 Galveston Hurricane which utterly devastated the city and surrounding area. I was reading this novel while Hurricane Dorian was hammering the Bahama Islands and the Carolina coast. Hurricanes can end with horrific destruction, both in property damage and human life. An inside description is always thought provoking.
May 8, 2013
Like the author's first book The Personal History of Rachel DuPree which I thoroughly enjoyed this is a historical novel loosely featuring a real event - a devastating storm. I loved this book too, just couldn't put it down.
However this has much more depth than it would seem, it's a novel of place, of time and of people, all of which are described accurately and realistically. We are introduced to two strong and instantly recognizable female narrators. Told in turns by Catherine, an unusual woman at the turn of the century for having chosen to pursue a career as a musician. We agonize with her at the realization that her ill advised liaison with a married man has not just left her abandoned and broken hearted but completely ostracized by society, viewing her with the scorn and contempt afforded to any adultress she is branded a slut and unfit for polite company. She can no longer maintain the place in society she fought so hard to get and her life seems to be going from bad to worse.
It really brings home how limited choices for women were around the turn of the century even when they are leading a more modern and unconventional lifetsyle than is the norm - society has strict moral rules and woe betide anyone who does not adhere to them.
Meanwhile at the other side of the country in Galvseton we hear the drawn out southern tones of Nan Maynard a 25 year old working as a housemaid to recently widowed Oscar and bringing up his son Andre at his Mothers request - a deathbed promise made from the heart that isn't difficult to keep as she already loves little Andre and her feelings for Oscar are more complex but no less real. She will do everything she can to care for the man and boy she is now in charge of.
Catherine searches through her address book to find someone to whom she may turn for much needed help, she is jobless and soon to be homeless, but she finds everyone with whom she is acquainted has either heard the scandalous rumours about her and no longer wants to know her or are busy with their own affairs - so she seems to be friendless also.
Finally she writes to an old admirer - going back almost to her childhood and finds he is willing to rekindle a friendship by correspondence. Writing letters back and forth with her in increasing desperation, when he finally renews his proposal of marriage to her she grasps it like the lifeline it is and accepts. The suddenness of her acceptance gives her little time to prepare and she finds herself thrust into an alien environment hot, remote and unsophisticated, married to a virtual stranger and a reluctant child into whose Mothers shoes she needs to gingerly step.
When the 2 women in Oscars life meet its hardly surprising that they don't take to one another, but as life grows increasingly difficult for Catherine trying to fit in to this strange new life, it's no easier for Nan to adapt to working for her new mistress. Then a massive storm hits and everything could change overnight.
I galloped through this book, turning page after page, yet I savoured every word as a delicious morsel like a box of chocolates you want to cram in your mouth all at once but are so delicious you let each one melt slowly so you get every drop of flavour out of it. A truly delectable piece of story telling elevated way above the run of the mill romance the initial idea suggests to a piece of social history, heartbreakingly relevant to today. Wonderful.
However this has much more depth than it would seem, it's a novel of place, of time and of people, all of which are described accurately and realistically. We are introduced to two strong and instantly recognizable female narrators. Told in turns by Catherine, an unusual woman at the turn of the century for having chosen to pursue a career as a musician. We agonize with her at the realization that her ill advised liaison with a married man has not just left her abandoned and broken hearted but completely ostracized by society, viewing her with the scorn and contempt afforded to any adultress she is branded a slut and unfit for polite company. She can no longer maintain the place in society she fought so hard to get and her life seems to be going from bad to worse.
It really brings home how limited choices for women were around the turn of the century even when they are leading a more modern and unconventional lifetsyle than is the norm - society has strict moral rules and woe betide anyone who does not adhere to them.
Meanwhile at the other side of the country in Galvseton we hear the drawn out southern tones of Nan Maynard a 25 year old working as a housemaid to recently widowed Oscar and bringing up his son Andre at his Mothers request - a deathbed promise made from the heart that isn't difficult to keep as she already loves little Andre and her feelings for Oscar are more complex but no less real. She will do everything she can to care for the man and boy she is now in charge of.
Catherine searches through her address book to find someone to whom she may turn for much needed help, she is jobless and soon to be homeless, but she finds everyone with whom she is acquainted has either heard the scandalous rumours about her and no longer wants to know her or are busy with their own affairs - so she seems to be friendless also.
Finally she writes to an old admirer - going back almost to her childhood and finds he is willing to rekindle a friendship by correspondence. Writing letters back and forth with her in increasing desperation, when he finally renews his proposal of marriage to her she grasps it like the lifeline it is and accepts. The suddenness of her acceptance gives her little time to prepare and she finds herself thrust into an alien environment hot, remote and unsophisticated, married to a virtual stranger and a reluctant child into whose Mothers shoes she needs to gingerly step.
When the 2 women in Oscars life meet its hardly surprising that they don't take to one another, but as life grows increasingly difficult for Catherine trying to fit in to this strange new life, it's no easier for Nan to adapt to working for her new mistress. Then a massive storm hits and everything could change overnight.
I galloped through this book, turning page after page, yet I savoured every word as a delicious morsel like a box of chocolates you want to cram in your mouth all at once but are so delicious you let each one melt slowly so you get every drop of flavour out of it. A truly delectable piece of story telling elevated way above the run of the mill romance the initial idea suggests to a piece of social history, heartbreakingly relevant to today. Wonderful.
April 8, 2014
This is a rare book. The author is outstanding and the story is captivating. I was swept up in the telling of it and with the very distinct characters that inhabit the pages. Truly one of those "you can't put it down" books of the season. It's luminous and heart-rending.
I don't know much about Galveston, Texas, having never been there, but Ms Weisgarber brings it to life vividly. She sharpens our senses to the salty air of the beach, the weathered landscape and the beaten habitations of Oscar's farm. I became anxious as Catherine first crossed the waters in her train and throughout her trip there. And I felt the anxiety and terror throughout the storm the whole family faced...both real and psychological. Matchless writing that garnered many visceral and emotional reactions from me!
The characterization is strong here. I truly felt the isolation of Catherine as she faced first her deceptions, and then her personal fears and love. I struggled with Oscar as he tried to understand and find a heart's balance. And I sensed the longing and pain in Nan. The confusion in little Andre. And much more. Ann Weisgarber is a master at rendering the perfect beat needed for each character in their settings.
This is a beautiful book full of longing, love, heart-breaking reality and a sense of lost life regained. I loved it. I hope you'll give it a try. It's the perfect book group book...lots of meat here...lots of situations to discuss.
5 stars Deborah/TheBookishDame
I don't know much about Galveston, Texas, having never been there, but Ms Weisgarber brings it to life vividly. She sharpens our senses to the salty air of the beach, the weathered landscape and the beaten habitations of Oscar's farm. I became anxious as Catherine first crossed the waters in her train and throughout her trip there. And I felt the anxiety and terror throughout the storm the whole family faced...both real and psychological. Matchless writing that garnered many visceral and emotional reactions from me!
The characterization is strong here. I truly felt the isolation of Catherine as she faced first her deceptions, and then her personal fears and love. I struggled with Oscar as he tried to understand and find a heart's balance. And I sensed the longing and pain in Nan. The confusion in little Andre. And much more. Ann Weisgarber is a master at rendering the perfect beat needed for each character in their settings.
This is a beautiful book full of longing, love, heart-breaking reality and a sense of lost life regained. I loved it. I hope you'll give it a try. It's the perfect book group book...lots of meat here...lots of situations to discuss.
5 stars Deborah/TheBookishDame
September 15, 2015
"The Promise". Why was the book titled that? Was THE promise that which Miss Nan made to Bernadette and later to Ann? If so, the title does not make sense for this was not what the book was about. A better title may have been, "Lives Crossing Paths" or something to that effect.
I appreciated Nan's character the most. The author did a good job of giving us insight into her very tender and raw emotions and portraying her as honorable and honest.
I liked the acknowledgement the author shared at the end where she honors the victims of the storm and Galvestonians.
This is a leisurely read--something someone might read on a long flight just to pass time. I would recommend it only for that purpose. Otherwise, the book can be boring. Ann's character was a mix of frustrating, annoying and boring. When she finally became courageous (living her secret life was anything but) and a bit likable was far too late. She remained a mystery in some ways. It is no wonder why she ended-up finding out what could have helped her marriage when it was already too late as well. I do like how her life ended. I think she was shown mercy.
Oscar... he was very much an accessory in the story-line.
Poor Andre... BUT thank heavens for the Odgens, for Nan.
I appreciated Nan's character the most. The author did a good job of giving us insight into her very tender and raw emotions and portraying her as honorable and honest.
I liked the acknowledgement the author shared at the end where she honors the victims of the storm and Galvestonians.
This is a leisurely read--something someone might read on a long flight just to pass time. I would recommend it only for that purpose. Otherwise, the book can be boring. Ann's character was a mix of frustrating, annoying and boring. When she finally became courageous (living her secret life was anything but) and a bit likable was far too late. She remained a mystery in some ways. It is no wonder why she ended-up finding out what could have helped her marriage when it was already too late as well. I do like how her life ended. I think she was shown mercy.
Oscar... he was very much an accessory in the story-line.
Poor Andre... BUT thank heavens for the Odgens, for Nan.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 25, 2015
I love Ann Weisgarber's writing and absolutely could not put this book down--even though I wanted it to last and last. Like The Personal History of Rachel DuPreethis takes place in a beautiful part of the country with an unforgiving climate, and is about the difficult choices that women make when those choices are limited by circumstances and the time in which they live. Great character development, compelling details about what it was like to live on Galveston Island, TX in 1900 (rattlesnakes in the outhouse, corsets and long sleeves in Texas in August--yikes!)and an extraordinary description of the hurricane of 1900, the worst natural disaster in U.S. history (about which I knew nothing but am now an expert since I googled every single detail of it after reading this book). I can't wait for Ms. Weisgarber's next book.
April 26, 2014
I was really impressed by this book and hope others will consider giving it a try--I'm surprised that I hadn't heard of it at all until I ran across it at the library! Historical fiction set in 1900 Galveston, in the days just leading up to and including the hurricane that killed over 6000 people there. The story centers around Catherine Wainwright, who finds herself at the center of a scandal in her hometown of Dayton, Ohio, and tries to make a fresh start in Galveston by marrying a recently widowed man whom she used to know but hasn't seen for years. The book alternates perspectives between her and Nan, a woman who was close friends with the man's first wife and who is not at all happy to see Catherine arrive on the scene. I loved all the details of life in Galveston at that time and found the story to be very emotionally powerful.
September 30, 2015
Catherine Wainwright left Dayton, Ohio, in August, 1900 to start a new life with Oscar Williams. Just as Catherine was beginning to adjust to her new life and surroundings, a hurricane blows in from the Gulf. Oscar is lost in the storm, and Catherine is bitten by a rattlesnake and dies. The main characters are gone, leaving Nan and Andre. I went back and looked to make sure that Catherine and Oscar were together for ten days.
I liked the battle between Catherine and Nan--two very strong women in their own way. I would have liked to see them become good friends. The hurricane description was frightening. I thought I was right in the middle of it. I do not like storms. I can't imagine surviving a hurricane. Maybe there was something to Nan's bad luck with the men she loved. All of them died, including Oscar.
I liked the battle between Catherine and Nan--two very strong women in their own way. I would have liked to see them become good friends. The hurricane description was frightening. I thought I was right in the middle of it. I do not like storms. I can't imagine surviving a hurricane. Maybe there was something to Nan's bad luck with the men she loved. All of them died, including Oscar.
November 12, 2015
This book was pretty bad. It was neither interesting nor well written. I considered abandoning it mid-read, but I didn't have anything else to pick up. I'm not really sure what the point of the story even was - the hardships of women in the early 20th century? A representation of Galveston in 1900? A retelling of the 1900 Galveston hurricane? None of these things was thorough or well-researched. It was pretty bad.
August 3, 2025
I don't mind an open-ended, ambiguous, fill in the blanks ending to a book. But I do mind an abrupt ending with absolutely no resolution whatsoever, which is what I got with The Promise. What the heck was that?!
I felt like we were never allowed time to become attached to these characters before the hurricane hit. In fact, I'm not even sure why the author attempted any sort of backstory for any of them because it didn't matter in the end.
I think I originally added this to my collection because the main characters are from Dayton, Ohio, before finding themselves in Galveston, Texas. To hear talk of Dayton being a luxurious and refined town made me laugh out loud.
For a book about the most devastating American natural disaster of the 20th century, the actual hurricane featured very little, and there is virtually no account of how the people rebuilt their lives after such devastation.
I feel cheated out of my time spent with this book because in the end, there really is little point to the story.
On my Kindle since 2016.
I felt like we were never allowed time to become attached to these characters before the hurricane hit. In fact, I'm not even sure why the author attempted any sort of backstory for any of them because it didn't matter in the end.
I think I originally added this to my collection because the main characters are from Dayton, Ohio, before finding themselves in Galveston, Texas. To hear talk of Dayton being a luxurious and refined town made me laugh out loud.
For a book about the most devastating American natural disaster of the 20th century, the actual hurricane featured very little, and there is virtually no account of how the people rebuilt their lives after such devastation.
I feel cheated out of my time spent with this book because in the end, there really is little point to the story.
On my Kindle since 2016.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 16, 2020
What do you do when you have burned all of the bridges behind you?
Catherine Wainwright, a pianist of cultured tastes, from upper-class Dayton, Ohio gets herself ostracised for an affair with a married man... With no other options, she remembers Oscar Williams from her childhood and contacts him in Galveston. They correspond and being recently widowed, he ask her to marry him and she agrees. The story is beautifully written and weaves the history of the 1900 storm into a great story.
The story is told from the point of view of Catherine and Nan, who is the friend of the deceased wife who believed she was going to be the next Mrs. I don't want to tell you the story... but it is so worth the read..
5 stars for sure.
Happy Reading!
Catherine Wainwright, a pianist of cultured tastes, from upper-class Dayton, Ohio gets herself ostracised for an affair with a married man... With no other options, she remembers Oscar Williams from her childhood and contacts him in Galveston. They correspond and being recently widowed, he ask her to marry him and she agrees. The story is beautifully written and weaves the history of the 1900 storm into a great story.
The story is told from the point of view of Catherine and Nan, who is the friend of the deceased wife who believed she was going to be the next Mrs. I don't want to tell you the story... but it is so worth the read..
5 stars for sure.
Happy Reading!
July 24, 2018
Didn’t think I was going to love this, but I did! Author accomplishes amazing character development in 300 pages & ends so poignantly! Fascinating illustration of the Galveston hurricane and flood!
March 11, 2016
I’ve been vaguely aware of the hurricane that nearly obliterated Galveston, Texas in the fall of 1900, but this is the first piece of historical fiction I’ve read about it.
Catherine Wainwright has a good life in Dayton. She’s out and on her own, teaching piano and performing herself. She has a college degree and has performed classical music with a male-dominated Philadelphia ensemble; so her life is not without significant accomplishment.
Unfortunately, it’s not without significant scandal, too. She had an affair with a total loser in fancy clothes who had a disabled wife and children he never intended to leave. The affair became increasingly public until Wainwright was pretty much ostracized from the Ohio community she had called home.
Time to escape! But where? She wrote every ex-boyfriend she could think of only to either be ignored or assured that the guy had happily married and moved on, thank you. But her childhood friend, Oscar Williams, has moved down to Texas somewhere, and rumor has it he’s even relatively successful if not outright wealthy. Her letter to him strikes gold, as it were; he has recently buried his first wife, and his son grieves for the loss of his mother. His housekeeper is a semi-literate woman who loves the little boy and promised his dying mother she would look after him always.
Catherine knows nothing about the primitive conditions of Galveston at the turn of the century. She only knows she must escape Dayton, and so to Galveston she goes. She is touched by the fact that her new husband has purchased an upright piano for her to play, and it becomes a highlight for her to play it when all other things seem too dark and distant to manage.
It seems young Catherine has become the center of a domestic hurricane. Housekeeper Nan Ogden, who had promised the little boy’s dying mom she would care for the child, has strong and deep feelings for Oscar Williams, and when this decked-out city girl from Ohio steps into the family, she is neither welcome nor immediately well received by anyone other than Oscar.
This is the story of a family in transition and a community unknowingly poised at the brink of destruction. I just never liked any of these characters enough to particularly care about them much. Had the book been even a bit longer, I doubt I’d have finished it. Naturally, I learned some fascinating stuff about turn-of-the-century Galveston that I enjoyed, but neither Catherine Wainwright nor the housekeeper were all that stellar for me.
Catherine Wainwright has a good life in Dayton. She’s out and on her own, teaching piano and performing herself. She has a college degree and has performed classical music with a male-dominated Philadelphia ensemble; so her life is not without significant accomplishment.
Unfortunately, it’s not without significant scandal, too. She had an affair with a total loser in fancy clothes who had a disabled wife and children he never intended to leave. The affair became increasingly public until Wainwright was pretty much ostracized from the Ohio community she had called home.
Time to escape! But where? She wrote every ex-boyfriend she could think of only to either be ignored or assured that the guy had happily married and moved on, thank you. But her childhood friend, Oscar Williams, has moved down to Texas somewhere, and rumor has it he’s even relatively successful if not outright wealthy. Her letter to him strikes gold, as it were; he has recently buried his first wife, and his son grieves for the loss of his mother. His housekeeper is a semi-literate woman who loves the little boy and promised his dying mother she would look after him always.
Catherine knows nothing about the primitive conditions of Galveston at the turn of the century. She only knows she must escape Dayton, and so to Galveston she goes. She is touched by the fact that her new husband has purchased an upright piano for her to play, and it becomes a highlight for her to play it when all other things seem too dark and distant to manage.
It seems young Catherine has become the center of a domestic hurricane. Housekeeper Nan Ogden, who had promised the little boy’s dying mom she would care for the child, has strong and deep feelings for Oscar Williams, and when this decked-out city girl from Ohio steps into the family, she is neither welcome nor immediately well received by anyone other than Oscar.
This is the story of a family in transition and a community unknowingly poised at the brink of destruction. I just never liked any of these characters enough to particularly care about them much. Had the book been even a bit longer, I doubt I’d have finished it. Naturally, I learned some fascinating stuff about turn-of-the-century Galveston that I enjoyed, but neither Catherine Wainwright nor the housekeeper were all that stellar for me.
August 29, 2015
Het verschil tussen twee vrouwen die heel veel van een man houden. Een vrouw uit het verleden van de man en een vrouw uit zijn heden. Bernadette de vrouw van Oscar overlijd. Oscar blijft achter met een zoontje van 4 jaar.
Oscar kende vroeger in een andere staat een meisje Catherine. Maar in de tijd dat hij haar kent is zij de dochter van een bruggenarchitect en hij de zoon van een kolenboer. Zij gaat studeren, hij vertrekt naar Texas.
Als Catherine (pianiste in een dames trio) verwikkelt raakt in een verhouding met een getrouwde man wordt ze uitgestoten uit de gemeenschap. Ze moet wat ondernemen en ze schrijft een brief aan Oscar. Hij nodigt haar uit zijn vrouw te worden. Dit boek wordt verteld door beide vrouwen, om beurten laten ze de lezer toe in hun leven. De verhouding tussen beide dames is niet echt goed te noemen. Nan is de huishoudster van Oscar en stiekem verliefd op hem. En Catherine en dame van stand die op een boeren eiland in Texas terecht komt. Toch komen ze beide in de storm van 1900 terecht. Mooi geschreven boek, duidelijke druk en zeker de moeite om te lezen.
Oscar kende vroeger in een andere staat een meisje Catherine. Maar in de tijd dat hij haar kent is zij de dochter van een bruggenarchitect en hij de zoon van een kolenboer. Zij gaat studeren, hij vertrekt naar Texas.
Als Catherine (pianiste in een dames trio) verwikkelt raakt in een verhouding met een getrouwde man wordt ze uitgestoten uit de gemeenschap. Ze moet wat ondernemen en ze schrijft een brief aan Oscar. Hij nodigt haar uit zijn vrouw te worden. Dit boek wordt verteld door beide vrouwen, om beurten laten ze de lezer toe in hun leven. De verhouding tussen beide dames is niet echt goed te noemen. Nan is de huishoudster van Oscar en stiekem verliefd op hem. En Catherine en dame van stand die op een boeren eiland in Texas terecht komt. Toch komen ze beide in de storm van 1900 terecht. Mooi geschreven boek, duidelijke druk en zeker de moeite om te lezen.
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