What Was Promised

by Tobias Hill

London in the aftermath of war: children run wild on East End bombsites, while their elders strive for better lives in a country beggared by victory. Clarence and Bernadette Malcolm have come five thousand miles in search of prosperity, but find the Mother Country not at all as has been promised them; Solly and Dora Lazarus, too, are strangers in a strange land, struggling to belong even as they try to make sense of their past; and Michael and Mary Lockhart take with both hands all that the world owes them, wherever it leads them, whatever the cost. In the street markets and tenements of Bethnal Green the three families live and work together in uneasy harmony, until Michael shatters the balance between them, his hunger for betterment changing the courses of all their lives over decades and generations.

Reaching across forty years and capturing a city and a people in a time of tumultuous change, What Was Promised is a breathtaking novel by a master storyteller.

Genres: Fiction, London, Literature, Historical Fiction

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Tobias Hill was an award-winning English poet, essayist, writer of short stories and novelist.

He was born in Kentish Town, north London, to parents of German Jewish and English extraction: his maternal grandfather was the brother of Gottfried Bermann, confidant of Thomas Mann and, as owner of S. Fischer Verlag, German literature's leading publisher-in-exile during the Second World War. Hill was educated at Hampstead School, a comprehensive institution, and Sussex University.

Hill first came to attention in the 1990s as a poet and author of short stories, with early work appearing in magazines such as The Frogmore Papers: he later became established as a novelist. As a poet Hill published four collections, Year of the Dog (1995), Midnight in the City of Clocks (1996), influenced by his experience of life in Japan, Zoo (1998) and Nocturne in Chrome & Sunset Yellow (2006): the last of these was described by The Guardian as "A vital, luminous collection...it is rare to come across a collection of poetry that you know with certainty you will still be reading years from now, but for me, this is such a book."

Hill's only collection of short stories, Skin (1997), was serialized on BBC Radio 4, was shortlisted for the 1998 John Llewellyn Rhys/Mail on Sunday Prize, and won the International PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award.

From Wikipedia

Reviews

[Emily Pugh · Rating 2 out of 5]

the most mundane storyline with no conclusion. parts were good but overall v underwhelming

[Kiran Khan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would have been 4 stars if the first section didn’t make it lag so much. Tbh, first and last section were meh and unforgettable: the middle section is what tied it all together and made it a worthwhile read.
Would tell someone to give it a go if they were thinking about reading it anyways but I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend it to anyone.

[Bel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely novel about what we expect from life, what we get, and how deal with it, about family, race, class, and all the rest. The first part, centred on three families in the East End of London in 1948 - children playing in bomb sites and parents trying to scratch a living. Skip to 1968 and there are four moving sections focussed on some of the individuals and see how repercussions of the events of 1948 have never left their lives. The final section in 1988 is a lovely, reflective piece.

The writing is beautiful but unfortunately the structure prevents this from being a truly great book. The first and longest part feels too fragmented as it tries to follow too many people. The last part is ultimately a little frustrating as we are still craving resolution of various earlier subject lines. The decreasing length of the sections means that the novel seems to run out too fast, just as it was really getting going. I not understand what other reviewers meant when they said the flaw of the novel is being too short - the problem is it is too good and there is just not quite enough of it. Still, I would recommend it.

[Stephen Barker · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's not often that one suggests a novel should be longer... This is one such novel - a 5 star novel that I only downgraded to 4 because I wanted to read more - highly recommended. Tobias Hill should be more widely acclaimed. His distinctive and evocative prose style is addictive. Aside from wanting another 200 pages - fantastic!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now, before I even begin to tell you why, I am going to say that I love, love, love this book and it contains all the elements a good novel should have.

Read my full review at: http://leftontheshelfbookblog.blogspo...

[Candace · Rating 4 out of 5]

It kept me up late two nights in a row wanting to know how it would play out. Ultimately several threads in "What Was Promised" may not quite knit, but this is an accomplished novel that will keep you engaged from start to finish. Highly recommended.

[Déwi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. The descriptive writing takes you 'there' with all the detail. And strong characters. I wanted more though. I felt like the story had just begun and then it was over.

[Gillian Dance · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is written with an authentic, clear, down-to-earth manner. It is so real, the world it is written in and how it draws you into that time, following the second world war, the state that London has been left in, the experiences had by the different sorts of Londoners and how their lives are intertwined. We begin to catch glimpses of their secrets, their truths, quite different to whatthe media usually, stereotypically portrays. Beautifully descriptive of the backdrop, the characters too, utterly convincing and individual. A complex book that goes deeper and deeper as you go on and a delight to read.

[Janet Hoskyns · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book in the end, but found it very hard to get into in the first instance. I spent ages on Chapters one and two. After that, it all started to fall into place, the rhythms worked and I liked the writing. The ambience of East End London just after the war was beautifully portrayed - bomb sites, crumbling buildings etc. I also found much of the dialogue very apt and not over done. There were local twangs which resonated well. Overall, this was worth persisting with as it was poignant, funny and moving all at once.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fault is mine, I'm sure. I grew up in post-war London, a year or two after the book begins. The scenes and atmosphere that Hill evokes tug at my memory. But I couldn't engage with this book, perhaps because I took it with me on holiday to Sunny Spain. I was doing a disservice to it by ploughing reluctantly on to within a hundred pages of the end. I owe it to this book, and the many who have enjoyed it to give it another go. I will.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinating story of interwoven lives of several families in London post WW 2. Well worth reading.

[Colin · Rating 4 out of 5]

good story, credible and sympathetic characters, interesting socially. thoroughly recommended

[Aart Beeker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Traag en weinig ontwikkeling in de karakters, waarom maken zij de keuzes die ze nemen? Geen idee. Daarnaast zijn sommige relaties wel erg ver gezocht.

[Justin Swart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Moeilijk doorheen te komen, zeker het begin is vaag en saai. Ook is de climax teleurstellend

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Note: I received a copy of this book through the Goodreads FirstReads programme)

The main appeal for me of What Was Promised - and the reason I entered the giveaway for it in the first place - was the sense that there would be a focus on London, that this was one of the many novels where the city is almost a character itself, cliché as it sounds. And to an extent I did find this was true, especially in the earlier sections where the characters lives rotate around the Columbia Buildings and the markets surrounding it. Later on though for me this seemed to fade; the focus turned to the characters instead and they are presented far more as individuals than the communal families shown before. Whilst there were characters I liked - Floss/Florence, Pond, Dora - the one person that the narrative kept returning to , whom all stories seemed to satellite, was Michael, for whom I had no empathy and no real desire to discover it. Perhaps this is my fault as the reader, but I don't want to feel sorry for a man who's selfish actions have caused death and destruction for all those around him. I understood why he did what he did and that he wanted to better his life and family in the only way he could, but I never liked him and I never really cared for his perspective - in fact, it annoyed me that the book finished with his point of view. I'd far rather have learned more about Sybil and what her and Pond actually did, or how Florence and Jem ended up with their kids! There were so many avenues that were interesting to explore that I was resentful that the focus was on the one I didn't care about.

Though this review may seem very negative, I didn't actually despise this book. Though it started slowly and it took a while for me to get all the characters sorted out in my head, the descriptions were superb and there was a real sense of life and energy in many sections. My issues are more about personal opinion and the type of characters I personally find interesting, rather than the actual construction of this novel. If you like family related dramas in a historical setting and have an interest in London you might like this, but it's not something I'd recommend more broadly.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first novel I've read by Tobias Hill and I really enjoyed it.
He's a fluent storyteller whose use of language really places you in the scene.
I enjoyed the descriptions of London even though I have no familiarity with London and it's streets.
The character's lives throughout the years zig zig,cross and collide, sometimes with shocking consequences.
The most enjoyable parts for me were the post-war years. hill's descriptions of the East End full of bomb sites and wreckage was so mesmerising and I think it's the first novel to truly bring home to me people's lives at that time, the food shortages, lack of decent housing, hard slog to scrape a living together.
I rate this book 3.5 stars, it would be more if it wasn't for the fact that I had some huge unanswered questions at the end, one of which us driving me mad not knowing !
I don't mind books leaving some questions open to your own imagination at the end, but it just felt unfinished to me.

[Jil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wat een mooi boek! Erg mooi en levendig geschreven. Hij kan goed de sfeer onder woorden brengen en vertelt het verhaal in de jaren na de oorlog. Het verhaal begint dat je de families leert kennen in 1948. Vervolgens gaat het verhaal naar 1968 en vanaf dan staan er individuele personen centraal. Zijn manier van vertellen zorgt ervoor dat je dicht naar de hoofdpersonen groeit.
In 1988 zijn de hoofdpersonen een stuk ouder en gaat het verhaal nog verder. Je krijgt een groot deel van het leven mee, terwijl het verhaal niet voelt alsof er iets mist wat je ook zou kunnen verwachten.
Wat mij betreft zeker een aanrader!

[Marie (UK) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the book a bit disjointed and underwhelming frankly. Reviews describe it as breathtaking but my breath was less than taken. It seemed as if missing the beat that would bring it to that level. The characters were lukewarm and the storyline less than that. The writing was Ok and it was not a difficult read , a picture of life in the east end at that time did emerge but the second and third parts were glossed over magazine style reads. I won't be looking for more from this author

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished this book and really enjoyed it. Starting in 1948 in the Columbia Road markets of London's east end, it is about the relationship between 3 very different couples and the far-reaching effect they have on each other's lives. The characters were credible and well-developed, and I loved the writing style - original, natural and unforced.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining story capturing an arc of London's history from just after the War to the Swinging Sixties, from Columbia Road to Holloway Road as the poor East Enders move out. Climax is in East Finchley at the St Pancras & Islington Cemetery where I go jogging most days.

[Brigitte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mooi boek dat een goed beeld geeft van het leven en het tijdperk van 3 families (de Britse familie Lockhart, de Joodse familie Lazarus en de Jamaicaanse familie Malcolm) in het Londen van 1948, 1968 en 1988, die allen met elkaar verbonden zijn door een verschrikkelijk drama.

[Joke Hendriks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Londen 1948,1968 en 1988 Mooi verhaal en goed verteld.

[Jennie O'bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting style, brought the time, particularly after the second world war alive.