Promises to Keep by Ann Tatlock*A Review

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.

Paperback: 348 pages
Publisher: Bethany House (February 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780764208096
ISBN-13: 978-0764208096
ASIN: 0764208098
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces

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.

http://www.anntatlock.com/index.php





MY REVIEW
This is the first book I’ve read written by Ann Tatlock and Promises to Keep is an amazing book. I was quite captivated from the first page until the end. For me reading a book in two days means it’s a fantastic read.
One reason I was amazed was because Promises to Keep is told by an eleven-year-old girl named Roz. If someone would have told me that it was told from this young girl’s perspective I wouldn’t have thought I would have liked it, but I love it and mean to keep this one on my bookshelf to reread. It also goes into my favorites of the year.
This story is about a family leaving the husband, because he was abusive among other things. In their new home an older lady shows up on their porch and acts like this is her home and it was until she broke her hip and her sons sold the house. So she wants her house back, but is willing to live with the new family. She is a great help to the family with taking care of the children as the mom goes off to work and does cooking and everything she did before, but for the family.
Roz {eleven-year-old daughter} makes a new friend and they both make a promise about their daddy’s and they both mean to keep it, but is this a wise move? Are promises and secrets trouble or something to keep no matter what.
This book has such a warm, homey feeling in it even though it talks about family problems, separation, divorce etc… It shows a family really trying to keep it all together and loving each other.
Ann gently puts God in the picture and eventually the family knows they can’t do anything without God.
I highly recommend this book to everyone. It is an excellent read and will make you happy you read it.

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Thank you to Bethany House for providing this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255