The Promise

We easily remember the devastation Hurricane Katrina wrought on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. We can read the reports that suggest that we've had a bit of a reprieve from bad hurricanes in recent years but that our luck might be running out. Those of us far enough from a coastal area to only feel weakened fallout from something like a storm of this magnitude probably don't give a whole lot of thought to the idea of hurricanes. In truth, even those who must track and watch every year are unlikely to have considered much about Hurricane Isaac, the terrible and devastating storm that decimated Galveston, Texas in 1900. Ann Weisgarber's amazing historical fiction, The Promise, is set just prior to, during, and in the immediate aftermath show more of this intense, fierce storm and uses the falling barometer to great effect, not only in terms of the impending weather but in the coming storm of love and inflexible social expectations.

Oscar Williams is a dairy farmer on Galveston Island with a young son when his beloved wife succumbs to malaria. Having grown up in Dayton, Ohio, the son of a coal man, Oscar has made his own way in the world, working hard and caring for the people around him, rising above his origins. He once had an appreciation of music and beauty and the niceties of the world he was not a part of but he does not yearn for those things any longer, invested now in the life and family he's built himself.

Catherine Wainwright was a young women in the world Oscar only dreamed of. She left home to be educated and became a concert pianist, even supporting herself in a time when it was not easy for women to do so. But Catherine has a love affair with her invalid cousin's husband and when rumor and innuendo take hold as they must do, she is ostracized from her community; her very means of supporting herself stripped from her. Desperate and with no one else to turn to, Catherine resumes a long ceased correspondence with Oscar, who once admired her playing and herself. When he eventually proposes to her via letter, she grasps the lifeline he offers her, packs up her belongings, and makes the long journey by train to Galveston, hoping all the while that Oscar hasn't heard about her indiscretion.

When Catherine arrives, she discovers that her new life will be very different from her old one. No indoor plumbing or electricity, a suspicious housekeeper who was Oscar's late wife's best friend, the challenge of mothering a small stepson, learning about her new husband and the rhythm of his days, and the empty stretch of her own long days without anything to occupy her time. And as all of this closes in on her, Catherine must also grapple with her shame and guilt over the scandal in her past and the fear that Oscar will discover it.

The novel's narration alternates between that of Nan, the housekeeper, a Galveston native, and Catherine, very obviously a hothouse flower in this isolated and extremely rustic place. Weisgarber has done a beautiful job conveying a vivid picture of the island at the time and how vulnerable it was in the face of the terrible storm that bore down on it. Through Catherine's outsider's eyes, she has shown the remote beauty of the place while Nan's native knowledge brings the local people and their characters to life. Oscar is inherently good and kind and his stated hope that Catherine will be able to pass on an appreciation of the finer things in life to small Andre as a way to make her feel necessary is lovely. The way in which Catherine is faced with few choices in her life reflects a greater truth for women of the time. Although both she and her cousin's husband engaged in the affair, their sins reflect solely on her, in turn leading her to abandon pursuit of a life lived on her own terms and to conform to the socially mandated expectation of marriage. Weaving through the entire story is a vaguely ominous air; something terrible is certainly and inevitably coming. The novel is well-researched, well written, and gripping. It captures a fascinating time and a place long since gone, flattened by the storm and by the changing tides of society itself but detailed here forever. show less

Weisgarber paints a vivid picture of Galveston Island just prior to and during the devastating Hurricane of 1900 as she weaves a heartbreaking story of love and family. I loved the characters she created. Catherine, a young pianist from "society" flees scandal in Ohio by marrying an old admirer--a former coalman who left Ohio to seek his fortune and ended up a dairy farmer on Galveston Island. When his wife dies he seeks a new wife to care for him and his son, Andre. However Nan, a neighbor and good friend of his former wife, makes a deathbed promise to care for Andre. When Catherine arrives, Nan is distraught. The author’s choice of writing from the women’s alternating viewpoints put me on an emotional roller coaster.

THE PROMISE by Ann Weisgarber
If you are looking a book long description of the devastating hurricane of 1900 and its aftermath, this not the book for you. While an accurate and terrifying description of the storm does appear, it is brief and secondary to the love story.
If you looking for a description of life on a hardscrabble Texas farm along with a family story, this is the book for you. The book is well written and well researched. Catherine is clearly portrayed as is Oscar.
Catherine is a pianist with a problem. The man she loves is married and now everyone knows and condemns her. In a desperate effort to get a new start Catherine chooses to marry Oscar, a man she hasn’t seen in years, and start a new life in Galvaston, Texas in show more August of 1900.
4 of 5 stars show less

In 2011 I read Weisgarber's fantastic debut, The Personal History of Rachel Dupree. It was the kind of historical novel I adored -- unique setting and era, unbelievable heroine, fabulous historical detail. It got tons of love (lots of wonderful prize nominations), and most recently, was praised at a writing class I took -- all for good reason.

Weisgarber's newest surpasses my love for Rachel Dupree. I'm in that flail-y, can't speak coherently kind of place with this review, so I'll just say this: read this book, stat!

Set in Galveston, Texas in 1900, ahead of the devastating hurricane, the novel follows two women loosely bound together by Oscar, a dairy farmer, and his five year-old son, Andre. Nan Ogden is a neighbor, a hearty woman show more asked by Andre's mother, on her deathbed, to care for him. Devoted to the boy, and half in love with Oscar, Nan's unprepared and angry when he suddenly remarries.

Catherine Wainwright is from a monied Ohio family, college educated and gifted at piano. But she falls from grace (and society) when her affair with her crippled cousin's husband comes to light, and renews her acquaintance with Oscar, whom she knew when they were children. Recently widowed, he proposes after a few letters, and she accepts with resignation that grows when she arrives in Galveston.

Despite the seeming love triangle set up, this isn't a novel about who wants who. Instead, it's a book about family connections, secrets, obligations and the assumptions we make; Weisgarber describes an emotional storm ahead of the very real hurricane we know is coming.

The descriptions of place are just stunning. I know nothing about 1900s Galveston, and Weisgarber paints a world hot, steamy, bustling, and lonely. (It turns out Galveston the city is also on Galveston the island; Catherine and I both assumed she'd be living in the city, but it turned out she was going to live out on the island.) Catherine as an outsider means Weisgarber can load up on details about what Galveston was like, but it never feels awkward, heavy, for infodump-y.

The writing generally is just lovely, too: Nan and Catherine have two distinctive voices, their own views and prejudices, their own keen observations and their own blindnesses. But there's poetry and lovely evocation of place and mood through the book.

It was a sorrowful time; there wasn't no other way to put it. What the storm did to us was cruel, and I won't never forget it. Or forgive it. The storm did what it wanted and then blew itself out, leaving us to try to put things right. But some things can't be put right. (p290)

A must read for historical fiction fans, as well as anyone who a love for Texas. This is a wonderfully emotional novel, too, in the vein of women's contemporary fiction, and I think those who aren't sure they like hist fic might want to consider this one for it's exploration of love and family. A top ten read for 2014, hands down. show less

This is my second book by the author and I can't wait for the third. From the minute you open the book and start reading you are drawn into the character's worlds; in this case upper class Dayton, Ohio, and far from upper class Galveston, Texas in 1900. Ms. Weisgarber is one of those magical authors that writes in such a way that you forget you are reading a book and instead find yourself immersed in whatever world she is creating.

Oscar is a dairy farmer on Galveston Island and a recent widower. He has a small boy Andre, who has been cared for by his neighbor, Nan. Suddenly Oscar informs Nan that he is remarrying - a woman from his hometown. Nan is devastated as she had come to care for Oscar and her promise to his first wife - her good show more friend - to care for little Andre makes it hard for her to accept a new woman. Katherine is running from her old life and a bad relationship and sees Oscar as her only escape but Galveston is a world of different from Dayton.

As Katherine and Oscar get to know each other and Andre tries to adapt to the changes in his life a storm is brewing. The Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900 is about to strike and change everyone's life and lead to promises asked and promises broken.

It's been a long time since a book has caused me to cry and The Promise did that more than once with the power of the writing. I was so very involved with these people I hurt for them and felt their joy. I found myself so in place I swear I could feel sand beneath my feet. I love books that draw the reader in the like this. I did not want it to end and when it did I wanted to turn around and read it all over again. Like Ms. Weisgarber's first book, this one will stay in my library so I can savor it again and again. show less

I read Ann Weisgarber's debut novel, The Personal History of Rachel Dupree, in 2011 and was immediately captured by her storytelling.

Weisgarber's latest book, The Promise, did the same, holding me from first page to last.

Catherine Wainwright is a talented pianist, making her own way in 1899 Ohio. But she makes the mistake of believing a man's interest in her is true. She is marked as a fallen woman and shunned by her family, friends and acquaintances. The man has no intention of leaving his wife. With no one willing to hire or work with her and her debts mounting, Catherine's plight grows increasingly desperate. She casts about for a man that has not heard of her background, sending out letters to renew ties. One man replies - Oscar show more Williams. Oscar left Ohio as a young man and eventually landed in Galveston, Texas where he makes his living as a farmer. His wife Bernadette has just died, leaving him to raise their four year old son Andre. A local girl, Nan Ogden made Bernadette a promise - to look after Andre. But when Oscar brings home Catherine as his new wife, worlds, emotions and more collide.

Weisgarber has again created very strong, but different, female characters in Catherine and Nan. Both are well drawn, but I found myself drawn more to Nan. Her down to earth, practical attitude belies a caring heart. She is astute enough to sense the attraction between Catherine and Oscar and realize what is inevitable. I had a harder time with Catherine. Although her character transforms as the relationships between the three main characters evolve, I still had a difficult time accepting her.

"Oscar ate with the neighbour men and danced with the women, rural unrefined people, but that hadn't mattered to him. He enjoyed their company. He was without pretense and this, I realized, was what drew me to him."

She, howeve,r is pretending, hiding her past and the desperate need to flee circumstances of her own making.

The narrative is alternated between Catherine and Nan, giving us an insider's view of each woman's thoughts. Interestingly, Oscar is never given a voice of his own. Rather we learn of and about him from each woman's point of view.

Weisgarber again draws on historical events to set the backdrop for her novel. I was unaware of the geography and history of Galveston Island. (I did, of course, have to Google it after I finished the book. ) 1900 Galveston was home to one of the US's greatest natural disasters. A hurricane inundated the island and city, killing 6,000 people in the span of a few hours. And this event is pivotal to Weisgarber's story.

The setting is a character in the book as well, the heat and the storm almost tangible in Weisgarber's beautifully descriptive passages. Weisgarber has written a story rich with emotion, detail and history - definitely a recommended read.

The Promise has been shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. show less

The primary characters in [The Promise] are Catherine, who is coming undone after an inappropriate relationship with a married man, and Oscar, her childhood friend who lives in Texas. Because Catherine has been shunned by Dayton society she writes Oscar in desperation, hoping a previous offer of marriage might still be open. After the exchange of a few letters Oscar, now a widower, offers marriage and motherhood to his 5 year old son. Catherine accepts because she has no other choice. Weisbarger handles the complication beautiful, citified Catherine brings to rural Texas society with subtlety and restraint. The hurricane of 1900 hits shortly after she arrives and what happens to Catherine, Oscar, his son and the neighbors during and show more after the great storm had me glued to the page! [The Promise] will be on my favorite books list of 2014! show less