About The Book
The Wife’s Promise – Book 1
Alice looked at the young girl standing alone on the platform, sensing the same vulnerability she’d once felt entering the village she now called home. Then, as the child gripped her hand, the pain and sorrow Alice had held in her heart for so long softened… And in that moment, she vowed she’d always protect her – whatever the cost…
England, 1939: When Alice marries twinkly-eyed, kind-hearted vicar David, it means leaving everything from her old life behind and moving into the draughty vicarage in the beautiful but remote village of Goswell, Cumbria. Though homesick, Alice is determined to make a new life there for herself and her husband.
But soon tragedy strikes, and she is devastated when war breaks out and David chooses to sign up to fight. But everything changes when Alice is asked to take in a child evacuee, and she makes a promise to protect this girl, no matter what it costs her…
Now: When Jane and her family move to the small coastal village of Goswell where her husband grew up, she’s afraid she might have made a huge mistake. Their new home – in what had once been the vicarage – feels a million miles from their previous fast-paced life in New York City, and Jane struggles with her empty days that seem lonely and purposeless.
But then she finds a small note, forgotten behind a shelf in the pantry. A note written in the Second World War. By a woman named Alice, whose incredible story has the power to change everything…
Two wives’ stories – told over 70 years apart – about courage, finding a home, and how the unexpected arrival of someone else’s story in your life can change your own. Perfect for fans of Fiona Valpy, Lucinda Riley and Barbara O’Neal.
This novel can be enjoyed as a standalone.
Previously published as The Vicar’s Wife by Katharine Swartz.
Buy Link: https://geni.us/B0BG2VBF4Ysocial
My Thoughts
The Wife’s Promise is the first book in a quartet of books that will grab your heart and simply not let go. The series is The Goswell Quartet.
So far, I have only read the first book in this series, but I am planning on reading the entire series.
Such a gripping and emotional book, it is not one that will be forgotten any time soon.
Two wives’ stories told over seventy years apart but yet the connection quickly becomes apparent.
I absolutely love these time slip books, and this is an example of one at its finest.
As you absorb the story you become invested in the characters. their emotions and thoughts become your own. It becomes as though you are experiencing the daily life right there with them in each time period.
Taking place in England in the late 1930’s and in modern times, the characters are quite similar in many ways. There is a vulnerability to these characters. a reaching out of needing more but not quite sure how to get it.
“Two wives’ stories – told over 70 years apart – about courage, finding a home, and how the unexpected arrival of someone else’s story in your life can change your own. Perfect for fans of Fiona Valpy, Lucinda Riley and Barbara O’Neal.”
Previously published as The Vicar’s Wife by Katharine Swartz.
This has zoomed right to the top of my list of favorite books I’ve read this year!
Pub Date 17 Nov 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.
The Goswell Quartet
Though I have read the first book only I plan on reading the rest of this series. Here are all of the books in this series.
Grab the quartet here
The Daughter’s Garden – Book 2
“I had to free it,” Eleanor said, and stretched her hand out to the blue butterfly that seemed almost to hover in the air. “I had to let something find what happiness it could, since we cannot.”
England, 1918: As war ends, across the world, people are trying to heal and recover. But Eleanor still feels broken. The loss of her beloved brother, killed just days before the Armistice was signed, feels impossibly unjust. Spending her time in the neglected garden behind their house, she fears her heart will never recover.
Then her father hires a man to help restore the garden to its former glory. Gruff, handsome Yorkshireman Jack comes from a totally different world to Eleanor, but he understands the nature of her grief more than anyone else seems to. And as they spend time together, even though she knows her family will never accept someone of Jack’s class, Eleanor starts to wonder if – like the butterflies around them – there is any way for her to learn to soar again…
Now: Nearly one hundred years later, Marin is not prepared for finding herself the guardian of her fifteen-year-old half-sister Rebecca, after her father and his second wife are killed in a tragic accident. The sisters are practically strangers, and Rebecca’s grief makes her seem even more distant. Marin too is in need of a fresh start, so when Rebecca begs her to let them move to the picturesque village of Goswell on the Cumbrian coast, Marin impulsively agrees.
But it is only when they find a locked door to a secret garden, and a photograph of a girl with a butterfly landing on her hand, that the sisters start to realise they have a mystery to solve, one about war, about secrets, and about a love that could never be. A mystery that might just bring them together…
The Daughter’s Garden is a totally unputdownable novel about tragic secrets, the chance for forgiveness, and the healing that can come from a new start. Perfect for fans of Fiona Valpy, Rhys Bowen and Lucinda Riley.
This novel can be enjoyed as a standalone.
Previously published as The Lost Garden by Katharine Swartz.
The Bride’s Sister – Book 3
She clutched the piece of paper close to her chest, tears welling in her eyes, hardly believing what she had read. Silently thanking Sarah for all she sacrificed, she took the death certificate and slipped it under a loose floorboard – no one must ever find out what she’d done…
England, 1868: Orphaned and penniless, 18-year-old Sarah is left the sole guardian of her beloved little sister Lucy – who she’s vowed to protect at all costs. With nowhere left to turn, she is forced to accept mysterious widower James Mills’ proposal of marriage.
She believes being his bride can’t possibly be as bad as the threat of the workhouse. But nothing prepares her for the darkness of her marriage, the shocking secrets of her new family and the lengths she will have to go to, to keep her sister safe…
Now: Living in the beautiful village of Goswell, Ellen believes her family life to be idyllic… until her estranged seventeen-year-old stepdaughter Annabelle moves in and shatters the peace. Ellen fears they will never bond, until she finds a death certificate – for a woman named Sarah, from over a century earlier – hidden under the floorboards of their house, and Annabelle starts to help her unravel the mystery.
Yet as Ellen and Annabelle dig deeper into Sarah’s life and death, shocking truths, both past and present, come to light which change everything Ellen thought she knew about Sarah’s family – and the new addition to her own…
The Bride’s Sister is a powerful and moving story about what it means to be a family, second chances, and the lengths we go to for those we love. Fans of Lucinda Riley, Barbara O’Neal and Fiona Valpy will absolutely love this gripping and emotional read.
This novel can be enjoyed as a standalone.
Previously published as The Second Bride by Katharine Swartz.
Buy Link: https://geni.us/B0BG2SBLT8social
The Widow’s Secret – Book 4
She looked down at the sweet little girl and knew she wouldn’t listen to what anyone else said. She had to do what was right. Even if it meant going against everything she was taught to believe and keeping a secret from the person closest to her…
England, 1766: Abigail is happily married to James, a tobacco trader turned sea captain, and is looking forward to starting a family and settling down in Whitehaven, deep in the Lake District. But after a series of devastating losses, she finds herself in turmoil, with her future suddenly seeming unknown…
When James announces that he will captain a ship to Africa and then the Americas for a year, it sparks a series of surprising and heartbreaking events – involving some of the darkest evils in humanity’s history, and a tiny, terrified slave girl who’s brought back to England. This helpless child forces Abigail to reconsider everything she thought she knew – and will change her life forever…
Now: When a shipwreck is discovered off the coast of Cumbria, local expert Rachel is brought in to investigate. Her first thought is that this will be a perfect distraction from her troubled marriage and the memories of her past that she is desperate not to think about. But then it becomes clear the wreck is a slaving ship from the 1700s – one that was recorded as sinking in the Caribbean – and Rachel begins to wonder if there’s more to this terrible mystery than meets the eye.
Faced with uncertainty about both the past and present, can Rachel learn from Abigail’s extraordinary story and take the first step towards a brighter future of her own?
The Widow’s Secret is a completely heart-wrenching and powerful story of courage, redemption, and compassion. Fans of Lucinda Riley, Barbara O’Neal and Fiona Valpy will be absolutely captivated by this unforgettable read.
This novel can be enjoyed as a standalone.
Previously published as The Widow’s Secret by Katharine Swartz.
Buy Link: https://geni.us/B0BG2SVV86social
About The Author
Kate Hewitt is the author of many romance and women’s fiction novels. A former New Yorker and now an American ex-pat, she lives in a small town on the Welsh border with her husband, five children, and their overly affectionate Golden Retriever. Whatever the genre, she enjoys telling stories that tackle real issues and touch people’s lives.
https://www.facebook.com/KateHewittAuthor/
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