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A Mother's Promise: My true story of surviving Auschwitz and the horrors of the Holocaust, the Sunday Times bestseller
304 pages, Hardcover
Published February 7, 2025
About the author
Kate Thompson
66 books155 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Kate Thompson is an award-winning writer for children and adults.She has lived in Ireland, where many of her books are set, since 1981. She is the youngest child of the social historians and peace activists E. P. Thompson and Dorothy Towers. She worked with horses and travelled in India before settling in the west of Ireland with her partner Conor. They have two daughters, Cliodhna and Dearbhla. She is an accomplished fiddler with an interest in Irish traditional music, reflected in The New Policeman.
While Kate Thompson's children's fiction is primarily fantasy, several of her books also deal with the consequences of genetic engineering.
She has won the Bisto Children's Book of the Year Award four times, for The Beguilers, The Alchemist's Apprentice, Annan Water and The New Policeman. The New Policeman was also awarded the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Whitbread Children's Book Award and the Dublin Airport Authority Children's Book of the Year Award for 2005.
Kate Thompson is an award-winning writer for children and adults.She has lived in Ireland, where many of her books are set, since 1981. She is the youngest child of the social historians and peace activists E. P. Thompson and Dorothy Towers. She worked with horses and travelled in India before settling in the west of Ireland with her partner Conor. They have two daughters, Cliodhna and Dearbhla. She is an accomplished fiddler with an interest in Irish traditional music, reflected in The New Policeman.
While Kate Thompson's children's fiction is primarily fantasy, several of her books also deal with the consequences of genetic engineering.
She has won the Bisto Children's Book of the Year Award four times, for The Beguilers, The Alchemist's Apprentice, Annan Water and The New Policeman. The New Policeman was also awarded the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Whitbread Children's Book Award and the Dublin Airport Authority Children's Book of the Year Award for 2005.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 12, 2026
One of the most profoundly moving books I have read in a long time - it made me cry in places at the cruel inhumanity Renee Salt suffered in ghettoes and concentration camps during the Second World War at the hand of the Nazi’s.
We must ALL ENSURE SIMILAR ATROCITIES CAN NEVER HAPPEN TO ANY JEWISH PERSON EVER AGAIN!
Renee’s capacity for compassion is astonishing and I would love to meet such a wonderful person. Her book makes me want to volunteer to help older Jews however I can ……
The book details the amazing bravery and courage not only of Renee but also of her younger sister, Stenia (who deserves a special mention) her father, Tatus Berkowicz, her mother, Sala Berkowicz, her extended family and other Jews as well as the moving story of her eventually finding the love of a good, patient and honourable man Charles Salt.
Renee’s co author the journalist Kate Thompson uses the first person for Renee’s narrative, and the third person to add historic detail to the text. She does this beautifully, and even visits the places covered in recent times to bring the horrific events into the present day.
I cannot recommend this highly accessible book enough!
The last words of this review however need to go to the extraordinary person that is Renee Salt: “I hope my story has moved you. Maybe your wondering do I forgive? I don’t forgive. How can I? It’s not my right to forgive. Instead, I choose to live with love.”
We must ALL ENSURE SIMILAR ATROCITIES CAN NEVER HAPPEN TO ANY JEWISH PERSON EVER AGAIN!
Renee’s capacity for compassion is astonishing and I would love to meet such a wonderful person. Her book makes me want to volunteer to help older Jews however I can ……
The book details the amazing bravery and courage not only of Renee but also of her younger sister, Stenia (who deserves a special mention) her father, Tatus Berkowicz, her mother, Sala Berkowicz, her extended family and other Jews as well as the moving story of her eventually finding the love of a good, patient and honourable man Charles Salt.
Renee’s co author the journalist Kate Thompson uses the first person for Renee’s narrative, and the third person to add historic detail to the text. She does this beautifully, and even visits the places covered in recent times to bring the horrific events into the present day.
I cannot recommend this highly accessible book enough!
The last words of this review however need to go to the extraordinary person that is Renee Salt: “I hope my story has moved you. Maybe your wondering do I forgive? I don’t forgive. How can I? It’s not my right to forgive. Instead, I choose to live with love.”
July 11, 2025
This book was so incredibly sad but also impossible to put down. Truly how Renee even survived her 6.5yrs of absolute horror & went on to live such a wonderful family life is incredible. Her story will stay in my mind forever.
April 30, 2025
Renee Salt's testimony is incredibly moving. Her memories of pre-war Jewish life in her hometown highlight all that was lost and destroyed. As well as Renee's first person narrative of her wartime experiences there is accompanying commentary from the writer which helps to contextualise events. I particularly enjoyed learning of Renee's post war life.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews