Promise the Moon

Locale Selector - Click for default
|

ttStore Home
Show Featured Items

Author(s):

Elizabeth Joy Arnold

Label: Bantam
Publisher(s):

Bantam

Studio: Bantam
Manufacturer: Bantam
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
List Price: $6.99
Our Price: $6.99
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In the heart of every family
lie shattering secrets,
and a love that lasts forever...

When war and its aftermath take Josh from Natalie and her children, she must find a way to heal her broken family. And so Natalie begins writing letters from Josh that she hides for young Anna and Toby to find?notes from heaven that attempt to explain why he left, to offer comfort and wisdom. But when Anna suddenly reveals that her father has been speaking to her from heaven, divulging stories only Josh could know, Natalie must uncover the secrets of her husband?s past?secrets he hid to protect his family.

As Natalie?s search brings her closer to her own parents and reunites her with a love from long ago, she and her children will discover just how much of a hero Josh actually was?and that only by finally revealing the truths they?ve hidden from each other can they find peace, a fresh start, and the promise of a hopeful future?.

Customer Reviews

JUne Nolen author of In Reverse Time

As has already been written,and to me also, this is a book about the consequences of war. A suicide by a young man with a wife, Natalie, and family, Anna and Toby. A man who had the best years of his life ahead of him. Two children who have now lost their father and don't know the reason why. His wife doesn't know the reason why either. They find that one very important part of his time spent abroad affected Josh deeply. So much so that he couldn't live with it. It's months later that his suicide note is recovered and his best friend finally explains the picture of a young woman found in his things.
This novel is very timely considering the war going on and our young men and women fighting it, trying to hang on to their sanity.
It was a haunting book but a true sign of many family's reality.

A Family Pieces Together a Soldier's Story

A touching and sad story surrounding the tragedies of war and the impact that suicide has on a young family. Elizabeth Joy Arnold is a talented writer but this story could have been tighter. I think she stretches the story to include too much, perhaps showing the myriad of ways that grief affects every aspect of our lives, but I think that I would have enjoyed this story if had been just a little shorter.

We are introduced to our main characters shortly after a soldier's suicide and in his wake he leaves a wife and two children not only grieving him, but left unsure of the importance that they played in his life. They feel betrayed that he chose to leave them and the mother, Natalie, wants to reassure her children so much that she pretends that their father is writing to them from heaven and leaves notes for them to find. At first it seemed like a great solution because their little boy, Toby, who was the one who found his father after he shot himself had completely stopped speaking to everyone but when she gives him "their fathers" letter, he begins to speak again but soon, it's all too clear that she may have made a mistake because Toby feels that he can continue to communicate with him.

Elizabeth Joy Arnold adds mystery to the mix through Anna, their daughter who begins dropping hints that she knows more about the reasons behind her father's death than she should and Arnold gives the reader clues slowly and we ultimately learn that some secrets are too huge to handle alone.

Anna seems to find fault in her own actions leading up to her father's death and her world is turned upside down even further when their fractured family has to leave the base for "civilian" housing. Natalie then takes her wounded kids and moves back in with her parents, including her mother that is suffering advanced stages of Alzheimer's. She can't help but find links to the mental illness that obviously also plagued her husband and she finds his PDA with copious notes taken throughout his last weeks, but Natalie can't seem to bring herself to check the entry he made on the final day of his life.

While out shopping with the kids, Natalie runs into Seth, an old high school boyfriend who has recently gotten a divorce and he helps her sort out some of her feelings but at the same time, makes her life more complicated because he begins to stir feelings in her that she once only felt for her late husband.

The story culminates when someone from the soldier's past comes forward and makes contact with a member of the family and starts feeding details that Natalie thinks only her husband would know. This triggers a series of events that help the family come to terms with his death and the reasons behind his suicide.

I enjoyed this story, it was well written and the characters were likeable and relatable and I like the way the author alternated the first-person perspective of Natalie and Anna. I could see this being made into a movie in and in these days where novels are heavily edited to create a more action filled film, I think the resulting tighter version of this story would be well received.

Effect of War on Families

It was interesting and at times heartbreaking to see how the suicide of a veteran affects the spouse and family of that soldier. Perhaps, someone contemplating suicide, after reading about these effects, might realize what this act could do to their family-although in this case maybe one can also understand why he felt it was the only option as well?
My only criticism is that some of the language was a bit repetitive. Maybe the book could have been a little "shorter" with some more editing?
I would not say that this a literary "work of art" but I did enjoy it as a novel one might choice as easy summer reading.

Timely subject matter

While I thought Pieces of my Sisters Life was a better book, I still think this is well written and thought provoking. Many of our soldiers are suffering with the after effects of war. No matter what your political views are these soldiers have given a lot and deserve our help and support. As with her last book, I found the characters not always very likeable, but very real.

Timely subject matter

I just finished Promise the Moon by Elizabeth Joy Arnold. I found the book to be compelling with a very timely story line. Natalie, the main character of the book, is a newly widowed young women with two small children. Her husband, an Iraq war veteran, killed himself leaving Natalie to cope with the huge emotional problems she and her children are feeling.
I particularly like how the author does not shy away from the ugly, serious subject matters. In her previous book Pieces of my Sister's Life, there were many tough to read events including some violence. I found it hard to read at times but also a very well written book. Promise the Moon is very much the same. There are few subjects more difficult to read about than the suicide of a young father and the utter despair and guilt it leaves the survivors. Adding that to the fact that he is a veteran of a heavily controversial war, a war that many believe is wrong in the first place makes it even more compelling. I find Elizabeth Joy Arnold's writing a gift to read, and her subject matter intensely interesting.

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT SOME OF THE CONTENT THAT WE MAKE AVAILABLE TO YOU THROUGH THIS APPLICATION COMES FROM AMAZON WEB SERVICES. ALL SUCH CONTENT IS PROVIDED TO YOU "AS IS." THIS CONTENT AND YOUR USE OF IT ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AND/OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME.
Powered by PNAmazon © 2003-2007 ttgapers.com