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The Promise Trilogy: Book One
Not yet published
Expected 1 Aug 26East Harlem, 1919. A girl graduates. A daughter rebels. A woman begins to awaken.
Lucie Santoro has committed the first sin of independence: she dared to imagine more.
While her mother insists a woman’s place is in the home—especially now, with so many young men lost to the Great War—Lucie crosses the graduation stage and claims her diploma. It’s a small act of rebellion in a community where Italian daughters are meant to marry well, bear children, and uphold tradition. But to Lucie, it’s proof she can want something beyond a hope chest and her mother’s approval.
Her path is already set: marriage to Carlo Colucci, a good man from a respectable family. It’s a practical match. Expected. Safe. The kind of future that keeps generations tethered to the old world.
But gratitude begins to feel like surrender.
When Sister Agnes offers her a position as a tutor, Lucie glimpses a different path—one where she might become a teacher, shape young minds, and build a life of her own. It’s a dangerous dream in a world where women have only just won the right to vote, where a mother’s love comes wrapped in warnings, and where ambition in a girl is seen as a kind of betrayal.
Then Dante Mazzarone returns from Chicago—wearing sharp suits, driving a gleaming motorcar, and carrying a past that’s more wound than history. He’s everything her family fears: unpredictable, Americanized, a boy who makes Lucie feel entirely seen. He doesn’t offer safety. He offers her a mirror.
Torn between the daughter her family needs and the woman she’s becoming, Lucie must ask herself the hardest question of all:
What does it cost to wake up? And once you do—can you ever go back to sleep?
Perfect for readers who love:
Lush, immersive historical settings that bring 1910s New York to life
Multigenerational drama and complex mother-daughter relationships
Stories of immigrant families navigating tradition and change
Heroines who fight to define their futures—and identities
Themes where personal rebellion collides with cultural expectation
From Sherilyn Decter, author of immersive historical fiction, The Promise is the first novel in a trilogy about waking up, choosing differently, and forging a life that belongs to no one else.
“We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Lucie Santoro has committed the first sin of independence: she dared to imagine more.
While her mother insists a woman’s place is in the home—especially now, with so many young men lost to the Great War—Lucie crosses the graduation stage and claims her diploma. It’s a small act of rebellion in a community where Italian daughters are meant to marry well, bear children, and uphold tradition. But to Lucie, it’s proof she can want something beyond a hope chest and her mother’s approval.
Her path is already set: marriage to Carlo Colucci, a good man from a respectable family. It’s a practical match. Expected. Safe. The kind of future that keeps generations tethered to the old world.
But gratitude begins to feel like surrender.
When Sister Agnes offers her a position as a tutor, Lucie glimpses a different path—one where she might become a teacher, shape young minds, and build a life of her own. It’s a dangerous dream in a world where women have only just won the right to vote, where a mother’s love comes wrapped in warnings, and where ambition in a girl is seen as a kind of betrayal.
Then Dante Mazzarone returns from Chicago—wearing sharp suits, driving a gleaming motorcar, and carrying a past that’s more wound than history. He’s everything her family fears: unpredictable, Americanized, a boy who makes Lucie feel entirely seen. He doesn’t offer safety. He offers her a mirror.
Torn between the daughter her family needs and the woman she’s becoming, Lucie must ask herself the hardest question of all:
What does it cost to wake up? And once you do—can you ever go back to sleep?
Perfect for readers who love:
Lush, immersive historical settings that bring 1910s New York to life
Multigenerational drama and complex mother-daughter relationships
Stories of immigrant families navigating tradition and change
Heroines who fight to define their futures—and identities
Themes where personal rebellion collides with cultural expectation
From Sherilyn Decter, author of immersive historical fiction, The Promise is the first novel in a trilogy about waking up, choosing differently, and forging a life that belongs to no one else.
“We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” — William Shakespeare, Hamlet
548 pages, ebook
Expected publication August 1, 2026
About the author
Sherilyn Decter
20 books49 followersSherilyn Decter writes emotionally rich historical fiction about strong, determined women navigating the shadows of Prohibition-era America. Whether uncovering secrets in speakeasies or confronting legacy in Little Italy, her stories blend meticulous research with unforgettable characters. She is the author of the Bootleggers’ Chronicles, Rum Runners’ Chronicles, Moonshiner Mysteries, The Promise Trilogy, and Legacy Letters, a serialized fiction project delivered directly to readers.
Inspired by authors like Kristin Hannah, Fiona Davis, and Rhys Bowen, Sherilyn Decter brings untold women’s stories to life with rich detail and emotional depth.
Learn more at sherilyndecter.com.
Inspired by authors like Kristin Hannah, Fiona Davis, and Rhys Bowen, Sherilyn Decter brings untold women’s stories to life with rich detail and emotional depth.
Learn more at sherilyndecter.com.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
Review of advance copy received from Author
Received this book from the Author as an ARC.
I love reading historical fiction, but this one hit home much harder than many I have read. I could feel the angst and the conflict in the FMC (Lucie) as she struggles with tradition and wanting more, as she lives in the early Twentieth Century America.
Having recently returned from fighting in the War, her brothers and many others in the Italian Community in which they live are struggling to return to a somewhat normal life, but carrying the internal (and sometimes external) scars inflicted upon them during the time overseas.
Because of the expectations and secrecies (appearance and reputation is primary, very few people actually talk about anything beyond the historic expectations of family, work, marriage, and home. This is even more pronounced for the women -- they are expeced to marry well (or comfortably) according to their families, and continue to increase the size and legacy of the family through childbearing.
Lucie wants more. Her teacher knows she would make an excellent teacher, and encourages her. She had her father's grudging permission to finish school through to graduation, putting marriage (arranged) on hold, but he and her mother see nothing beyond that as being necessary for her happiness.
Listen closely to the instructions she gives the young man she tutors in Romeo and Juliet. Their struggles between expectations, desires and family mirror her own with her family and upbringing.
This is the most heartwrenching story I've read in quite some time, and I just knew that whatever decisions she came to in her life, there would be heartache and loss involved, and yet, I couldn't put it down.
The story continues in the next book, as life continues for Lucie, one decision at a time.
I love reading historical fiction, but this one hit home much harder than many I have read. I could feel the angst and the conflict in the FMC (Lucie) as she struggles with tradition and wanting more, as she lives in the early Twentieth Century America.
Having recently returned from fighting in the War, her brothers and many others in the Italian Community in which they live are struggling to return to a somewhat normal life, but carrying the internal (and sometimes external) scars inflicted upon them during the time overseas.
Because of the expectations and secrecies (appearance and reputation is primary, very few people actually talk about anything beyond the historic expectations of family, work, marriage, and home. This is even more pronounced for the women -- they are expeced to marry well (or comfortably) according to their families, and continue to increase the size and legacy of the family through childbearing.
Lucie wants more. Her teacher knows she would make an excellent teacher, and encourages her. She had her father's grudging permission to finish school through to graduation, putting marriage (arranged) on hold, but he and her mother see nothing beyond that as being necessary for her happiness.
Listen closely to the instructions she gives the young man she tutors in Romeo and Juliet. Their struggles between expectations, desires and family mirror her own with her family and upbringing.
This is the most heartwrenching story I've read in quite some time, and I just knew that whatever decisions she came to in her life, there would be heartache and loss involved, and yet, I couldn't put it down.
The story continues in the next book, as life continues for Lucie, one decision at a time.
Displaying 1 of 1 review