CFBA: Promises to Keep by Ann Tatlock

Song Stuck on the Brain: Your Love Goes on Forever by SonicFlood

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing:

Promises to KeepBethany House (February 1, 2011)

by

Ann Tatlock



MY TAKE:

Promises to Keep has been a very enjoyable read. I loved the contrasting characters, Tillie, in all her unique glory, ready to close the final chapter in her life. Roz and her family just starting fresh with no idea what the future holds. Roz is a wonderfully written little girl, so very true to age and life. She reminded me of one of my nieces, which of course made her seem even more real.

I'll admit, that at first, I didn't really care for Tillie. I'm not sure you're really supposed to, since we're seeing the story unfold through Roz's eyes. But Tillie had strength and heart and she grew on me, until in the end, I loved her.

The story is well written, with the time period set beautifully and the emotion and tension building beautifully. Worth the read.



ABOUT THE BOOK:

Eleven-year-old Roz (Rosalind) Anthony and her family have just moved to Mills River, Illinois, to escape an abusive situation. Only days after settling into their new home, they are surprised to find the previous owner, Tillie Monroe, on their front porch reading the newspaper.

Though her sons have sold the house and sent her to a facility for the aged, she is determined to die in the place she lived her life, and somehow manages to find her way "home" day after day. Feeling sympathy for the elderly woman, Roz's mother allows Tillie to move back in.

Mara Nightingale becomes Roz's first friend in Mills River. In spite of their many differences, the girls discover they have something in common that binds them together--both are hiding secrets. So they make a promise--"cross my heart and hope to die"--never to tell anyone else. When danger stalks the Anthonys, Tillie exhibits unimaginable courage and selfless love in her determination to protect the family she has adopted as her own.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Promises to Keep, go HERE.

Watch the book trailer HERE.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ann Tatlock is the author of the Christy Award-winning novel All the Way Home. She has also won the Midwest Independent Publishers Association "Book of the Year" in fiction for both All the Way Home and I'll Watch the Moon. Her novel Things We Once Held Dear received a starred review from Library Journal and Publishers Weekly calls her "one of Christian fiction's better wordsmiths, and her lovely prose reminds readers why it is a joy to savor her stories." Ann lives with her husband and daughter in Asheville, North Carolina.