Your descriptions of life on the battlefields of France are incredibly realistic and moving. Did you find you had to do a lot of research into World War One before you wrote this novel?
Long before I even thought about setting a book in World War One, I had read a great deal about it, because history and wars are two of my passions. World War One was such a terrible and cruel war, it changed almost every aspect of life for everyone. I wanted to write a fictional story illustrating the courage, hardship and the sheer horror that ordinary people went through – not just the brave young men who went to fight under such appalling conditions, but about their women back home. In order to get my facts right I had to read at least forty more books while writing The Promise. I also went to the war graves in Flanders and spent long hours in the Imperial War Museum.
Belle is a strong, courageous woman who is determined to maintain her independence – first as a milliner and then as an ambulance driver in France. What was it like being a married, yet working, woman at that time? How did society view working women?
Society tended to look down on working women in general before World War One. Not just factory girls, domestic staff and the like, but people in trade too. Women of the middle and upper classes rarely worked and were confined to their homes and families, but the war changed that for many. However, Belle wouldn’t have felt bound by the normal constraints of that period, not even when she married, because of her past and the way she was brought up. An occupation such as being a milliner would have been considered acceptable because it was a feminine job, yet being in ‘trade’ would have also set her apart. However, once so many society women rushed to become war-time volunteers when war broke out, most people – whatever their class – would have admired women who helped the war effort. After the war a great many more women embarked on careers. They were very much needed when so many of the young men didn’t make it home again.
Why did you decide that Belle and Mog should emigrate to New Zealand? What drew you to New Zealand in particular?
I felt that after the horrors of war Belle and Mog would want to start afresh somewhere else. They really had nothing to stay in England for. I chose New Zealand because I love it. I think if I were younger I’d like to go and live there myself. I also felt Mog and Belle had the right kind of pioneering spirit to make a go of it there.
The BOOKS
Georgia
Raped by her foster-father, fifteen-year-old Georgia runs away from home to the seedy back streets of Soho …
Tara
Anne changes her name to Tara to forget her shocking past – but can she really become someone else?
Charity
Charity Stratton’s bleak life is changed for ever when her parents die in a fire. Alone and pregnant, she runs away to London …
Ellie
Eastender Elite and spoilt Bonny set off to make a living on the stage. Can their friendship survive sacrifice and ambition?
Camellia
Orphaned Camellia discovers that the past she has always been so sure of has been built on lies. Can she bear to uncover the truth about herself?
Rosie
Rosie is a girl without a mother, with a past full of trouble. But could the man who ruined her family also save Rosie?
Charlie
Charlie helplessly watches her mother being senselessly attacked. What secrets have her parents kept from her?
Never Look Back
An act of charity sends flower girl Matilda on a trip to the New World and a new life …
Trust Me
Dulcie Taylor and her sister are sent to an orphanage and then to Australia. Is their love strong enough to keep them together?
Father Unknown
Daisy Buchan is left a scrapbook with details about her real mother. But should she go and find her?
Till We Meet Again
Susan and Beth were childhood friends. Now Susan is accused of murder, and Beth finds she must defend her.
Remember Me
Mary Broad is transported to Australia as a convict and encounters both cruelty and passion. Can she make a life for herself so far from home?
Secrets
Adele Talbot escapes a children’s home to find her grandmother – but soon her unhappy mother is on her trail …
A Lesser Evil
Bristol, the 1960s, and young Fif Brown defies her parents to marry a man they think is beneath her.
Hope
Somerset, 1836, and baby Hope is cast out from a world of privilege as proof of her mother’s adultery …
Faith
Scotland, 1995, and Laura Brannigan is in prison for a murder she claims she didn’t commit.
Gypsy
Liverpool, 1893, and after tragedy strikes the Bolton family, Beth and her brother Sam embark on a dangerous journey to find their fortune in America.
Stolen
A beautiful young woman is discovered half-drowned on a Sussex beach. Where has she come from? Why can’t she remember who she is – or what happened?
Belle
London, 1910, and the beautiful and innocent Belle Reilly is cruelly snatched from her home and sold to a brothel in New Orleans where she begins her life as a courtesan. Can Belle ever find her way home?
The Lesley Pearse Women of Courage Award
was launched in 2006 to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of ordinary women; women who have done something special for themselves or someone else; women of courage.
Previous Winners
‘Winning the inaugural woman of courage award was a unique experience which I shall always remember’
NICOLE GALLAGHER from Kent was nominated by her best friend because of her care and devotion to her children who both suffer from rare medical conditions.
‘I still have to pinch myself to remind me that I did actually win the award’
KAREN BAKER from Harrow was nominated by her colleague. She provides full time support for her disabled daughter, Nicky, gives support to her colleagues in a busy role, looks after her father who has Alzheimer’s disease and is the key support for her husband who has epilepsy. As if that wasn’t enough, Karen has been living with cancer for years.
‘Winning has filled me with renewed enthusiasm to continue working hard towards my goals and to assist others in achieving theirs.’
KERRY-ANN HINDLEY from Glasgow was nominated by her partner because she has overcome personal tragedies, hardship and a terribly troubled youth to take her experiences and turn them into something positive – helping others.
‘Winning the award was further reinforcement to me that child abuse will not be ignored in our society, and it has had the double effect of renewing my campaigning efforts.’
SIOBHAN PYBURN from Southampton was nominated by her ITV Fixers project worker for her courage in taking back control of her life and using her own experiences of abuse and incest to help others.
SHEILA MEANING was nominated by her friend for her selfless dedication to the homeless over the last 21 years.
PLEASE TURN OVER TO FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN NOMINATE SOMEONE FOR THE AWARD
‘I know there are real heroines out there who would put my fictional ones to shame, and I really want to hear about them’ Lesley Pearse
IS THERE AN AMAZING WOMAN OUT THERE WHO DESERVES RECOGNITION?
Whether it is someone who has had to cope with problems and come out the other side; someone who has spent her whole life looking out for other people; or someone who has shown strength and determination in doing something great for herself, show her how much she is appreciated by nominating her for an award.
The Lesley Pearse Women of Courage Award gives recognition to all those ordinary women who show extraordinary strength and dedication in their everyday lives. It is an annual event that was launched by Lesley and Penguin in 2006.
The winner and her family will be invited to London for a sumptuous awards lunch with Lesley, where she will be presented with a specially crafted commemorative awar
d, a framed certificate and £200 of Penguin books.
Let us know about an amazing lady you know and make a difference to her life by nominating her for this prestigious award.
To nominate someone you know: Complete the entry form, or send us the details required on a separate piece of paper, and post it to:
The Lesley Pearse Women of Courage Award, Penguin Michael Joseph, 80 Strand, London, WC2R 0RL or visit: www.womenofcourageaward.co.uk where you can print out a nomination form, enter your nominationdetails on to our online form and read all about the award and its previous nominees and winners.
Acknowledgements
First and foremost to Glen Fisher as without his knowledge of the First World War, the books he directed me to and his enthusiasm for my book I might never have got started.
I read a huge amount of books in my research, too many to mention individually, but of special note were The First Day on the Somme by Martin Middlebrook, The First World War by John Keegan and Voices of the War by Peter H. Liddle.
Lyn Macdonald’s books Somme, They called it Passchendaele, and The Roses of No Man’s Land helped me understand the bigger picture so much better. I can recommended any of these books to anyone who wants to know more about the First World War.
MICHAEL JOSEPH
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
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First published 2012
Copyright © Lesley Pearse, 2012
The moral right of the author has been asserted
All rights reserved
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book
ISBN: 978-0-14-196408-9
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Acknowledgements
Lesley Pearse, The Promise
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