The Grand Promise

by Rebekah Anderson

2023 PNWA Nancy Pearl Book Award Finalist

"A thoughtful look at desperation brought about by early-20th-century American enterprise." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Enthralling...the storytelling has grit under its fingernails"--Publishers Weekly
“Covers a grand vision, human resilience, and the enduring power of love”–Foreword Reviews
"Readers will be swept up"--Seattle Book Review

Published on the 80th anniversary of the Grand Coulee Dam, "The Grand Promise" is a work of literary fiction about the real communities that were impacted by the dam's construction on the Columbia River during the 1930’s.

296 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2022

Reviews

[Kathryn Trueblood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the way the Grand Coulee Dam at the center of this book had the full presence of a character with its machinery and catwalks and ceaseless dynamism. Anderson writes with a broad historical scope and genuine depth of field. She made me love her characters. Carter, a heartbroken young man alienated from his family, goes to work for the damn even though his family is opposed to it. The story takes the classic form of _The Odyssey_ as he travels over the roads and on the river to understand who he is and if he can come home again. The book also records the effect of capitalistic progress on community, as the damning of the river floods both Indian burial grounds and small town graveyards alike. I think one of my favorite scenes (no spoiler) is when Carter and his Native American partner have to clear a property of its inhabitants, and the owners have no intention of leaving. Anderson's writing shows a long apprenticeship to craft, and her tutelage under E.L. Doctorow is evident in her skillful weaving of history and character arc. Anderson is firmly in the tradition of Amanda Coplin (The Orchardist) or Ken Kesey (Sometimes A Great Notion), and this is a truly satisfying historical novel. A terrific addition to Northwest literature.

[Don Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author Rebekah Anderson has taken a significant piece of Pacific Northwest history -- construction of Grand Coulee Dam -- and woven an entertaining and compelling story about the cost of progress, loss, and renewal. So well-written with a cast of deeply developed characters. I was so drawn to them. I found myself savoring the author's words choices and descriptions and still turning pages eager for what would happen next. The end was nicely wrapped up. Well done and highly recommended.

[Chris Arkills · Rating 5 out of 5]

As children growing up in the Pacific Northwest, we were taught in school that hydroelectric power is good for all. As the Woody Guthrie song, Roll On Columbia, said "your power is turning our darkness to dawn". But as with all things in life, there are good effects and bad ones. Rebekah Anderson deftly explores the effects of building Grand Coulee Dam and Lake Roosevelt behind it. Scores of communities were submerged by the lake. Salmon runs were forever lost. Native Americans lost many ways of life. The stories Anderson tells through several characters in the book are moving and help us to understand what the construction of this massive public works project was really like to the people involved. I didn't want the book to end because I wanted to know how people survived after the dam opened. For anyone interested in good historical fiction, I highly recommend The Grand Promise. I hope Rebekah Anderson continues to write for publication. I truly enjoyed this book.

[David Partikian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rebekah Anderson’s debut novel, The Grand Promise illustrates the human cost of “progress” by loosely relating the tale of her grandparents’ lives during the construction of the Grand Coulee Damn in Eastern Washington. Few Americans today ponder the initial human effects of The Bureau of Reclamation’s hugely ambitious project to dam the Columbia River; the project has been a fait accompli for almost three generations now. No one likes to dwell over the ramifications or inherent unfairness of the US government forcing US citizens to relocate.

Forced relocation is an inherently political issue, one in which the humanized plight of affected individuals usually conflicts with perceptions of the Public Good. Anderson does a remarkable job in presenting the tale without imparting her own political opinions. The events she relates speak for themselves and have taken on new meaning in the age of sustainability where Americans need to rethink agricultural and energy policies of previous generations. In the case of the Grand Coulee Dam, salmon runs are sacrificed for agriculture and hydroelectric energy. Whether--at this juncture of mankind’s history and with knowledge of climate change--this is progress or regress is increasingly open for debate.

Anderson’s debut is historical fiction, a genre in which historical events are used as a backdrop for a human saga by a contemporary writer. One of the masters of this discipline, E.L. Doctorow, exploited this genre to the fullest throughout his career with various books set in the age of ragtime, during the World’s Fair and amid the backdrop of the Rosenberg trial. Anderson co-dedicates her book to the late Doctorow, her mentor in the NYU MFA writing program decades ago. His influence is evident throughout The Grand Promise. One scene reads like a homage to Doctorow’s Ragtime where a character is manhandled (killed) while attempting to pass a note expressing a grievance to President Teddy Roosevelt during a speech. Anderson seemingly pays homage to this scene in The Grand Promise by having a disgruntled character carted away by the newly formed Secret Service after he attempts to pass a letter to F.D.R. as he makes a speech on the construction site of the dam.

Like any good work of historical fiction, Anderson’s book leaves me wanting to learn more about the politics of the era and locales that cease to exist. She provides a brief list of further readings in her acknowledgements. To those, I would add the chapters on the Grand Coulee Dam in Marc Reisner’s seminal Cadillac Desert and a viewing of the 2003 film Northfork. Since the destruction of Native American salmon runs are a motif that looms throughout the book, an environmental history on what has happened to salmon and current salmon politics in the Pacific Northwest would also benefit an inquiring reader. There is a dearth of quality fiction that takes place within Washington State. The Grand Promise is a welcome addition to Pacific Northwest literature portraying a frontier community during a trying era.

[Shirley Kamada · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE GRAND PROMISE — Masterful

Author Rebekah Anderson’s historical novel is an impressive telling of the geologic, mechanical, and human complexities encountered in realizing Central Washington’s Grand Coulee Dam. Seamless, each scene fits to the next as one river flows into and merges with another.

Carter Price. His feelings run deep. His emotions are on his sleeve. Soft-hearted, often disregarded, resentment has been his go-to response. Since his mother’s death when he was just a boy, he has done the work of a man under the thumb of his always-angry father. Not recognizing the familial love of his younger sister, and in the absence of friends, Carter has experienced little affection except, briefly, from Mae, whom he married young and who soon left him, assuming ownership of their car and the house he built for her. Through it all, Carter finds a haven in his love of literature.

On one level, a riveting study of a momentous endeavor, on another, a brilliant exploration of character and circumstance, Rebekah Anderson’s historical novel, THE GRAND PROMISE, is masterful in its unselfconscious elegance and, in my carefully considered view, can be compared favorably to Ivan Doig’s BUCKING THE SUN and Marianne Wiggins’ PROPERTIES OF THIRST.

THE GRAND PROMISE. Impressive and, without reservation, highly recommended.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do like to read books about local history, in this case the time of the building of the Grand Coulee dam. This book follows Carter, a young man in eastern Washington who has disappointed his father (a ferryman whose livelihood will be lost when the area is flooded). and was abandoned by his wife. He leaves home to work on the dam project, we get a feel for the energy of the endeavor, the hardship of the workers, and the disappointment and anger of those who will lose their land with only small recompense by the federal government. This includes Native American people, both indigenous to the area and relocated from elsewhere. One interesting scene is when Carter heads out for an evening with friends. I thought they would go to a bar - it turned out to be a reading club where the men took turns reciting from classic books or poetry! I enjoyed the history but found the story less compelling, which is why I was at a 3.

[Ajk · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s nice and atmospheric in capturing central Washington in the ‘30s, I’ll give it that. But it’s all a bit didactic: troubled guy with dad issues learns to relax and love capitalism, and the beautiful women and deus ex car crashes follow.

It would be a but more interesting if it leaned more into the Odyssey nature of things: we meet lots of interesting characters, but we just keep on moving on (or backwards) instead of learning more about them. So there’s no real explanation of why things work our for our plucky hero, except that he’s our plucky hero.

It’s nice, calming, historical fiction that I truly did enjoy at times. I just wish it was a bit more complex or unsettling, for having such shallow jerks at its core.

[Mira M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anderson's description of history and efforts to build the dam (or fight building it), the area around Columbia and particularly of the people who lived it, is delightful. As I was reading it, I imagined the struggles of the characters, each flawed in their own way, yet compelling and layered, and kept on asking myself what I would have done at the time, who would I have been there, confronted with such a life-changing event. Each character is memorable and each brings their own questions, so well connected at the very end of the book.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cover is so perfect in portraying the northwest and it's love of water and history. The rich history of the time when Grand Coulee was being built told in fiction with each of the characters representing a different perspective without taking sides. This is very rare in modern publishing. I want to hear more from this fine author
Great first book!

[Sharon LaCrosse · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great story. She brought the characters alive and I have no doubt that the frustration of many when their homes were flooded by Lake Roosevelt surfaced in many ways, all the while giving needed jobs to many during the depression. What an interesting time for America.

[Allison Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel made me want to learn more about the Grand Coulee Dam and the people and lands it displaced. The author skillfully immersed me in this time and place, telling the story of the ordinary people who lived through it.

[Caroline Sun · Rating 5 out of 5]

it's a really good story that let you expericence the history about grand coulee dam for people who does not live in the America. I find it likes i'm reading a live American TV series during the reading.

[Kyra Florea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a wonderful story full of complicated history, love, and friendship. Highly recommend!