Promise Me This - Cathy Gohlke

At the anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, this book popped up for free.  I haven't ever read her before, but the premise looked interesting.  There's something about Titanic that captures the imagination.  A horrific tragedy, romanticized over and over again.  This book was a bit different.

The story follows 2 main characters: Annie and Michael.  In actuality, the Titanic portions of the book were a lot smaller than I thought they were going to be.  The descriptions were interesting and pull you in to the story.

The difference is that this story doesn't end with Titanic.  The remainder of the book follows the characters through the years between the sinking and the entirety of World War I.  Sometimes it's easy to forget that the two events were that close together.  I am not a fan of reading books that seem to have as much depression and tragedy as this book does, but let me add this.  The book is awesome.  I was both anxiety and hope as I neared the end and couldn't put the book down.

Michael has had an extremely hard childhood and has lost his only sister.  He is haunted by the memory of his sister getting taken away.  He meets Owen Allen, who teaches him about plants and gardens.  When Owen discovers Michael has stowed away aboard Titanic, he decides to teach him everything he knows and make him part of his family.  He makes Michael vow to bring his sister, Annie, to America at the first opportunity.  Losing Owen in the tragedy forces Michael to carry through on his promise on his own.

Annie is trapped and at the mercy of her cruel aunt.  Owen has saved up enough to send her to a school in the hopes that he will be able to send for her within a year.  Owen meant everything to Annie and losing him hurts her greatly.  She blames Michael for living and letting Owen die, even though she eventually comes to realize how wrong she is.  When war breaks out, everything changes.  Plans to travel to America are put on hold.  Annie and Michael start corresponding and come to be close.

The aunt has power and uses it to do cruel and unnecessary evils to people.  She has spent her life manipulating anyone that comes in her path, and when they resist, she does her best to destroy them.  Even after her death, she has a hold on Annie that is sad and unfair.

The end of this book is worth the read.  It is the first time I can remember tearing up at the end of a book.  I'm not saying that I never cry at the end of books, but it is very rare.  The book displays both the tragedies of life and also the closeness to God that can result from it.  It kept my attention throughout, and although I normally shy away from books like this, I am happy to give it a Good Book! review.