The Wife’s Promise by Kate Hewitt . The Goswell quartet Book 1

England 1939 and now. Two women enter this the small remote village of Goswell, Cumbria with trepidation. One is Alice just twenty, lived with her widowed father in comfortable surroundings, and then we have Jane coming from a high powered job, three children raised in New York used to the rush and bustle of big city life now stuck here as an outsider. In different timelines both women faced the frostiness and insularity of village life. one was expected to take on the position notjust ofbeing a brand new wife, but also that of the vicar's wife with Sunday school activities, Mothers Union and be availabke to all and sundry. Janewas set apart from the beginning - she was American and therefore right away in the eyes of the others did not fit in! When Jane discovers slip of paper indicating a grocery listof years ago, she feels compelled to investigate the life of this vicars wife who seemed to have been completely forgotton. This in the midst of Jane's own inner turmoil. Her foundering of her position as a mother, as a wife. Jane herself finds herself wanting. She feels in turn guilty that she has not realised that there are matters that have to be rectified and corrected where her children are concerned and she is inwardly horrified that she was not aware of them before, then she in turn is resentful that she has sacrificed a career and a different lifestyle to what she is forced into now. Alice herself faced immense challenges from the word go. First her miscarriage from which she hardly recovered mentally to David being called up, and Alice having to live alone and fend for herself which was frightening for the now 21 year old. Taking on a difficult 12 year old evacuee, who was resentful and rude, turning over the garden so that they could feed themselves and then facing the news of David's death and her having to leave the vicarage were all immense blows for Alice to face alone. The similarities were there and not there as well for both women. the story ofcourage, resilience and a spirit to overcome initial barriers were remarkable in both women. They were not going under. A very warm story despite instances of sadness it was a very rewarding read. Sent by Bookouture for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.